Warriors Move Within One Game of NBA Finals Following Steph Curry’s Second-half Comeback

Draymond Green had 20 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists, and the Golden State Warriors beat the Portland Trail Blazers 110-99 on Saturday night for a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.

Green had his seventh career postseason triple-double and Stephen Curry scored 36 points for Golden State, who are now one win away from a fifth straight trip to the NBA finals. Game 4 of the series is set for Monday.

CJ McCollum had 23 points for the Trail Blazers, who led by 18 points in the second quarter. Damian Lillard added 19 points, but Portland were hurt at the line, making just 20 of 33 attempts.

After trailing 66-53 at the half, the Warriors mounted a third-quarter comeback to lead 82-79 going into the fourth. Curry’s three-pointer made it 98-87 with just under five minutes to go. Portland struggled to stay with the Warriors, just as they had when they blew a 15-point lead in Game 2. Game 3 was the first conference finals game in Portland since 2000. The Blazers lost that series to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in seven games.

No team has ever come back from an 0-3 deficit to win in the playoffs. Only three series have gone to a seventh game after one team opened with a 3-0 lead.

Both teams switched up their lineups for Game 3, with Portland’s Meyers Leonard making his first start of the playoffs at center. Enes Kanter, despite sustaining a separated shoulder in the first-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder, started in all the previous games. Leonard provided a spark and finished with a career playoff-high 16 points.

The Warriors remained without Kevin Durant, and it’s unlikely he’ll return during the conference finals. The two-time reigning NBA finals MVP is still out with a right calf injury and isn’t set to be reexamined until next week. Durant, who didn’t travel with the team to Portland, averaged 34.2 points in the playoffs before he was injured in the third quarter of Golden State’s Game 5 victory over Houston.