2016 NBA Playoffs: Warriors take 2-0 lead over Trailblazers, Heat win at Toronto
[1] Golden State Warriors 110-99 [5] Portland Trailblazers [Golden State leads series 2-0]
In Game 1, the Golden State Warriors took the Portland Trailblazers out of the game with a 37-17 whopping in the first quarter. In Game 2, Portland came prepared for the initial onslaught so the Warriors locked in the fourth quarter to seal a comeback win.
In the fourth quarter, the Warriors outscored their opponents 34-12, winning the game by 11 after they entered the final period trailing by 11. Here are a couple of outstanding stats from the Warriors’ fourth quarter blitz:
After registering a triple double in Game 1, Draymond Green filled the stat sheet again with his 17 points, 14 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 blocked shots. The Warriors outscored the Blazers by 19 points while he was on the floor, the most for any player on either team.
After a rough first half, Klay Thompson scored 20 of his 27 points in the second half to also play a key role in the Warriors’ comeback. Veterans’ Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala always made the right play with the ball in their hands scoring a combined 29 points on 12 of 24 (50%).
Through three quarters Portland was able to stay competitive and lead their opponents by 11, largely due to scoring from Damian Lillard (25 points), CJ McCollum (22 points) and Al-Farouq Aminu (14 points). The team’s center Mason Plumlee once again filled the stat sheet with his 6 points, 11 rebounds and four assists but played only 29 minutes due to foul trouble and turnovers (6).
Game 3 will be played at the Moda Center in Portland on Saturday.
[2] Toronto Raptors 96-102 [3] Miami Heat [OT] [Miami leads series 1-0]
A half court heave from Kyle Lowry capped off a six point comeback in the last 20 seconds of regulation for the Toronto Raptors but the game saving buzzer beater was in vain as the team failed to deliver in the extra session of playing time.
The Raptors went scoreless through 3:46 minutes of the extra five minutes and eventually scored just six points while they allowed the Miami Heat to score 12, losing home court advantage and going down 0-1 in the series for their fourth consecutive Playoff series in a row.
The Raptors’ first round series with the Indiana Pacers, which they won on Sunday in Game 7, was a grind, to say the least largely due to their All-Star back court’s struggles. Game 1 of the second round against the Miami Heat was no different.
DeMar DeRozan did score 22 points, grab six rebounds and dish out 4 dimes but his shooting has not seen one good game these Playoffs. He shot 9 of 22 from the field (40%) and to make matters worse for the team, his backcourt mate Kyle Lowry hasn’t been doing too well.
Other than the buzzer beater, Lowry scored just four points in the game on a miserable 2 of 12 shooting (16.6%). Coming into the Playoffs as the team’s leader, this post-season has not been his time to shine, Lowry has played disappointing basketball. He’s been shooting just 16% from three these Playoffs so far.
On the other side for the opponents, veteran superstar Dwyane Wade is using all the Playoff experience he’s got to lead his relatively inexperienced team to wins. He had a box score of 24 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals, which included a couple of clutch ones in overtime. Wade’s backcourt mate Goran Dragic also pooled in 26 points of his own.
Centers on both teams had huge numbers but not a lot of impact on the game. Raptors’ Jonas Valanciunas had 24 points and 14 rebounds while Heat’s Hassan Whiteside had 9 points and 17 rebounds.
Game 2 will be played on Thursday at the Air Canada Center in Toronto.