Golden State Warriors beat Portland Blazers to lead 2-0
The Warriors produced a scintillating fightback to overpower the Trail Blazers and take a stranglehold on their Western Conference semi-final series on Tuesday.
Never write-off the Warriors
The reigning NBA champions overturned an 11-point fourth quarter deficit to outscore their opponents 34-12 and clinch a 110-99 win at the Oracle Arena.
The victory gives Golden State a formidable 2-0 lead heading into game three in Portland on Saturday.
With Stephen Curry missing once more with a knee injury, it was left to Klay Thompson to provide the offensive threat.
The 26-year-old had an off night, missing 13 of 20 shots, but came good when it mattered with five three pointers to finish with 27 points.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr was pleased with the way his side responded after a slow start which saw them trailing by 17 points at one stage in the second in the second quarter.
'We turned around what was a pretty bad game for us but we had enough time to get back,' Kerr said, citing the defensive performance of backup center Festus Ezeli and Draymond Green.
Green added 17 points with 14 rebounds and seven assists while Andre Iguodala added 15 points from the bench.
'Festus just made things a little tougher on their guards,' Kerr said.
'Between Festus and Draymond those guys did a great job of protecting the paint. But everyone deserves credit, not just those two.
'Andre (Iguodala) kept us in the game in the first half when things weren't going too well. Klay stayed with it. He had a rough start to the game but really came up huge.'
Damian Lillard topscored for Portland with 25 points, adding six assists and four rebounds.
C.J. McCollum was close behind with 22 points and two assists.