Warriors VS Trailblazers (Game 2)

Warriors Lead Series 2-0

Portland was winning. They were doing great. That was until the 4th quarter came. The Warriors executed just as Steve Kerr wanted them to.

The first point I'm going to make is that Portland was kept off the boards. Mason Plumlee was limited to 11 rebounds. The team had only 39 boards on the game while the Warriors had 48. It was sheer hustle from Draymond Green who ended the game with 14 rebounds himself.

What really had the Trailblazers going was the defense from Al-Farouq Aminu. He contested a total of 15 shots. His defense was amazing and his offense wasn't bad either as he hit a few threes and ended with 14 points. He was the second best player to have on the floor according the plus/minus advantage.

The Warriors took the lead and pulled away from the Blazers in the 4th quarter. If we take a look at just what happened in that quarter, there is a big difference between the teams. That difference is the free throws. The Blazers shot and made just 2 free throws in that quarter while the Warriors shot 11 and made 10 free throws in that quarter. In the other 3 quarters, Golden State shot just 9 free throws while Portland shot 19. The Blazers were in great position defending and they were aggressive themselves until that 4th quarter. This was what really stood out to me. The Blazers just lost their aggression and they bailed out the Warriors with fouls.

As you can see, the Warriors and Blazers flip-flopped in that 4th quarter and that seemed to decide the game. For game 3, the Blazers just need to get to the line and play great defense like they did in the first 3 quarters.