Green Triple Double Inspires Warriors Comeback Victory Over Trail Blazers
19th May 2019
CJ McCollum led Portland with 23 points. Damian Lillard, relentlessly double-teamed by the Warriors, added 19 points

- Draymond Green exploded for a seventh career playoff triple-double Saturday as the Golden State Warriors rallied for a 110-99 victory over the Trail Blazers in Portland and a 3-0 lead
- The two-time defending champion Warriors trailed by 18 in the second quarter, but with Green driving them they produced another dominant third period to seize control of the contest and the series
- Green scored 20 points with 13 rebounds and 12 assists, keeping the Warriors afloat in the first half before superstar Stephen Curry came alive with 21 of his 36 points after the interval
LOS ANGELES, United
States- Draymond Green exploded for a seventh career playoff triple-double
Saturday as the Golden State Warriors rallied for a 110-99 victory over the
Trail Blazers in Portland and a 3-0 lead in the NBA Western Conference finals.
The two-time defending champion Warriors trailed by 18 in
the second quarter, but with Green driving them they produced another dominant
third period to seize control of the contest and the series.
No team has come back from an 0-3 deficit to win an NBA
playoff series. The Trail Blazers will try to fend off elimination when they
host game four on Monday.
Green scored 20 points with 13 rebounds and 12 assists,
keeping the Warriors afloat in the first half before superstar Stephen Curry
came alive with 21 of his 36 points after the interval.
"I don't even know what to say about Draymond,"
said coach Steve Kerr. "He was like a wrecking ball out there, destroying
everything in his path."
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His intensity was on display on both ends of the court, and
on the sidelines as he exhorted teammates to keep pushing.
Klay Thompson added 19 points for the Warriors, who were
again without injured star Kevin Durant.
"All my teammates, my coaches have been telling me,
'Draymond, get to the hole, be aggressive'," Green said of his mindset.
"We've got guys out there, Steph, Klay and those guys
who draw a lot of attention, so it's on me to do my job and come through for
those guys."
CJ McCollum led Portland with 23 points. Damian Lillard,
relentlessly double-teamed by the Warriors, added 19 points.
Center Meyers Leonard, making just his third start of the
season, finished with 16 points.
"We're going to give it our best effort on Monday.
That's all that matters," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. "We're
going to give it our best effort and whatever happen, happens."
Leonard made the most of his opportunity early, connecting
on five of seven shots from the field in the first half on the way to 13
points.
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The Trail Blazers, energized in front of a rowdy home crowd
at the Moda Center, quickly built a 10-point lead before the Warriors trimmed
it to two -- 29-27 -- at the end of the first quarter.
But the Blazers kept the pressure on, stretching the lead to
18 in the second quarter.
A steal by Lillard produced a thunderous dunk from Leonard,
then Portland's Seth Curry stole the ball from his superstar brother Stephen
and raced for a three-pointer that made it 60-42 with 2:28 remaining in the
first half.
Portland took a 66-53 lead into the locker room, but the
Warriors responded with a monster third quarter, using a 22-6 scoring run to
take their first lead of the game, 77-76 on a lay-up by Kevin Looney --
assisted by Green.
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Golden State out-scored Portland 29-13 in the quarter to
lead by three heading into the final frame and pushed the lead to 11 with 4:51
remaining.