The Warriors Got The Blazers' Hopes Up, And Then They Killed Them In Four Minutes

Exactly halfway through the third quarter against the Trail Blazers last night, the Warriors were down by 14 points. After four more minutes of play, they had a two-point lead, and from there, they didn’t look back.

With Kevin Durant still sidelined by his calf injury—along with Shaun Livingston (finger), Matt Barnes (ankle) and head coach Steve Kerr (illness)—Golden State quickly found themselves in a hole early in the first quarter and down by a double-digit deficit at halftime. But they exploded in the third, with Klay Thompson and JaVale McGee leading the charge for a 17-1 run during that pivotal four-minute stretch, and Steph Curry carried them through in the fourth quarter to the 119-113 win.

McGee followed up his solid performance in Game 2 with 14 points in 16 minutes last night, but perhaps most crucial (and certainly most exciting) were two killer dunks during the four-minute comeback. Thompson, meanwhile, had 11 points on 3-of-3 three-point shooting in that four-minute period and 24 points overall.

Golden State is now up 3-0, with Game 4 tomorrow and little hope remaining for the Blazers.