PORTLAND, Ore., Sporting Alert – Stephen Curry jumped off the bench to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 132-125 overtime victory over the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 4 of their NBA Western Conference semi-final series on Monday night.
Curry, back from knee and ankle injuries, scored 40 points, including an NBA record 17 points in overtime.
He also added nine rebounds and eight assists and played for almost 37 minutes, as the Warriors rallied from a very slow start to take a 3-1 lead in the series.
Curry, who was returning after missing four straight games, says he was delighted to be back on the court.
"I figured he'd find his stroke & make a few shots, but I mean, that was crazy." – @SteveKerr on @StephenCurry30https://t.co/tz7EgXgHh4
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) May 10, 2016
“I love this game, I love playing and love competing. And really, really missed being out there with my teammates,” he said.
“To help our team get a win and in that fashion, that was a good feeling in that moment to be back on the floor and playing,” added Curry, who was playing his first game since he picked up an injured in Game 4 of the first-round series against the Houston Rockets.
There were a few doubts, including some from TNT analyst Charles Barkley, over whether the MVP would have been ready to play, but Blazers coach Terry Stotts admits that he saw no signs of the sharp-shooting All-Star guard being rusty.
“Remarkable. I mean, he looked fresh. He had his rhythm,” Stotts said. “He made tough shots, he made nice passes, he fought through screens.
“Obviously 17 points in overtime. It was a hell of a performance.”
Warriors guard Klay Thompson added: “You knew he’d catch his rhythm eventually.
“He’s probably the best player in the world, the best shooter of all-time. He was getting good looks. We’ll take those all day.”
Thompson scored 23 points, while Draymond Green was outstanding with 21 points, nine rebounds, seven blocks, five assists and four steals for the defending champions.
Golden States’ Shaun Livingston was ejected in the second quarter of the contest after receiving two technical fouls. he scored four points in 12 minutes.
Damian Lillard scored 36 points and dished out 10 assists to lead the way for Portland, but took 30 shots and made just nine from the floor, including four from 3-point range.
CJ McCollum added 24 points, Al-Farouq Aminu had 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Allen Crabbe ended with 13 points in the defeat for the Trail Blazers.
Portland dominated the early action and led by as many as 16 points in the first quarter after McCollum knocked down a shot to put the hosts ahead 21-5 with 4:55 left in the quarter.
However, the Warriors roared back to take the lead in the third quarter when Thompson connected on 3-pointer with 3:45 left in the period.
Both teams then battle back-and-forth in the fourth quarter until Curry hit a 3-point shot with 51.9 seconds left to knot the scores at 111-111 and the contest went into over.
After that, it was the Stephen Curry record-setting show.
The Warriors will look to close out the series Wednesday night at home in Game 5.
