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STEPH CURRY RETURNED from injury with an overtime performance for the ages, scoring 17 points late on to lift Golden State to a 132-125 win against Portland in Game 4.
Curry reminded everyone why he is the reigning league MVP, coming off the bench to finish with 40 points in 37 minutes of playing time as the Warriors moved to within one victory of the Western Conference finals.
Curry, who sat out the past four postseason games with a knee injury, bagged all but four of Golden State’s overtime points as he outscored the Trail Blazers by himself in the extra session.
“It took me a while to get in the groove but it finally happened,” said Curry, who also had nine rebounds and eight assists.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr started his news conference by joking, “Steph will start on Wednesday night”, referring to Game 5.
Kerr said he expected to have to limit Curry’s minutes last night to about 25, but after watching the way Curry rallied the troops, he threw that plan out the window.
“The guy has played one game in three weeks,” Kerr said.
I expected a lot of rust. Nobody could have predicted that explosion.
“I figured he would find his stroke and make a few shots, but that was crazy.”
Curry didn’t enter the game until halfway through the first quarter, with the Warriors trailing 16-2 in front of a crowd of 19,500 at Portland’s Moda Center arena.
“I’ve been through a lot in the last three weeks,” Curry said. “A lot of people helped me to come back and play.”
Klay Thompson scored 23 points and Draymond Green collected 21 points, nine rebounds, seven blocked shots and five assists for the Warriors.
Damian Lillard scored 36 points and handed out 10 assists for the Blazers, CJ McCollum added 24 points, and Al-Farouq Aminu chipped in 18 points and 13 rebounds , who will attempt to extend the series by winning on Wednesday at Oracle Arena.
- Wade ‘unstoppable’ -
Meanwhile in the Eastern Conference semi-final, Dwyane Wade scored 30 points and had a clutch steal and dunk in overtime as the Miami Heat evened their second-round playoff series with a 94-87 win over Toronto.
“This is one heck of a series,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Was there any doubt this was going to overtime?
The Heat stepped it up in overtime as Joe Johnson blocked two shots, Justise Winslow produced a tip-in basket and Goran Dragic had a key layup as Miami levelled the best-of-seven series at 2-2.
“That is just him being D. Wade,” Dragic said. “Unbelievable. He is unstoppable.”
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