OAKLAND -- The visiting Portland Trail Blazers backcourt shot the lights out of the Oracle Arena on Sunday afternoon, but it still wasn't enough to uppend the top-seeded Golden State Warriors, who had a huge fourth quarter en route to a 121-109 Game 1 victory.
CJ McCollum finished with 41 points while Damian Lillard added 34 as the eighth-seeded Blazers gave the Warriors all they handle, knotting the score at 88-88 entering the final frame.
In the end, however, the Warriors simply had too much firepower, closing the last 12 minutes with a 33-21 run, a blistering assault that was anchored by a Draymond Green 3 that gave the Warriors the lead for good.
McCollum put on a show early, tallying a franchise record 27 first half points. But the Blazers shot just 43 percent of their filed goals (40-of-93) and 36.7 percent of their 3s (11-of-30) while the Warriors went 43-of-81 from the filed (53.1 percent) and 11-of-27 from long distance (40.7 percent).
A sea of yellow adorned the Oracle Arena during Game 1 of Warriors-Blazers series Sunday afternoon.
Warriors stars Steph Curry (L) and Kevin Durant answer questions during the post-game interview.
Blazers head coach Terry Stotts is hopeful that injured center Jusuf Nurkic will suit up for Game 2, but the task of beating these Warriors remain daunting. "Dame and CJ, if they get 80 points between them we've still got to score 50 somewhere," Stotts told reporters.
Kevin Durant registered 32 points and 10 rebounds in his first playoff game as a Warriors while Stephen Curry added a quiet 29 points and four assists. Draymond Green was all over the place, barely missing a triple-double with 12 points, 12 rebounds, 9 assists, 5 blocks and steals.
"You've got to give them credit, they got it going. At some point you have to make them miss" Green said after the game.
Game 2 of this best-7 series is Wednesday night at the Oracle Arena (Thursday AM in Manila). (JSM)
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