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Highlights Video :
The Golden State Warriors held on to secure a 113-111 victory on the road over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night in the Moda Center.
Evan Turner had a chance to win the game for Portland in the final seconds. His three-point attempt from the left corner hit the front rim, and Mason Plumlee was unable to convert the tip-in as time expired.
Turner finished with 18 points on 8-of-17 shooting and was 2-of-7 from beyond the arc.
C.J. McCollum led the Blazers with 28 points, while Damian Lillard had a nice night, scoring 19 points and dishing out eight assists. Plumlee also posted a double-double (15 points and 11 rebounds).
Kevin Durant led all scorers with 33 points and added 10 rebounds and six assists. The Warriors needed him to step up, since Klay Thompson and Draymond Green combined to shoot 8-of-29. Thompson scored 27 points, but 13 of those points came at the free-throw line.
The Warriors announced Sunday afternoon they'd be without two-time reigning MVP Stephen Curry, who was suffering from a stomach flu.
Curry's absence didn't seem to affect Golden State in the first quarter after the Warriors jumped out to a 33-24 lead.
Their advantage swelled to 21 points, 51-30, with 5:30 left in the first half. Blazers head coach Terry Stotts called a timeout to settle his team down. The strategy worked, as Portland closed the first half on a 20-2 run to climb to within three points, 53-50, at the half.
As a team, the Warriors shot 19-of-44 from the field, including 4-of-17 from three-point range in the first half. In addition to its struggles from beyond the arc, Golden State had no answer for the Trail Blazers inside. Portland owned a 28-14 edge in paint scoring.
Green and Zaza Pachulia were both in foul trouble in the first half, picking up two and three fouls, respectively, in the opening two quarters, which led to the Warriors' defensive issues in the paint.
Green's three fouls help explain why he offered so little resistance to McCollum, who scored two of his 14 first-half points with this layup at the 3:10 mark of the second quarter.
Turner tied the game 64-64 with a three-pointer at the 6:56 mark of the third quarter, but Portland was unable to make any further headway aside from tying the game again a little over a minute later. The Warriors went on a run to close out the quarter and held an 84-74 lead heading into the final frame.
The Trail Blazers continued knocking on the door in the fourth quarter, and the Warriors kept them at bay. Two free throws put Golden State up six points, 108-102 with 30 seconds remaining, which seemingly ended Portland's comeback hopes.
However, McCollum and Turner connected on a trio of clutch shots to leave door open for the Trail Blazers. An offensive foul on Durant with 5.5 seconds remaining allowed Portland to have one more chance to make the game-winner.
While the Warriors nearly coughed up the win, beating the Blazers in Portland is a nice result, especially considering Golden State was without Curry and had a bad shooting night from Thompson.
Stotts, however, may feel his team let a great opportunity slip through its grasp. Golden State was short-handed and shot 30.8 percent from beyond the arc as a team. The Blazers shot themselves in the foot by committing 18 turnovers and allowing the Warriors to go to the charity stripe 39 times.
Portland plays the Charlotte Hornets on Tuesday, which will be a chance for the team to rebound and close the gap on the Sacramento Kings for the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
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