Warriors vs. Blazers: Curry Praises Teammates For Stepping Up In Durant's Absence

The Golden State Warriors were crowned the Western Conference champions for a fifth straight year after they swept the Portland Trail Blazers 119-117 in overtime in Game 4 on Monday night and book a place in the NBA Finals. Stephen Curry was again at the forefront as the Warriors came back from an eight point deficit in the third quarter to take it into overtime.

Curry has averaged just over 35 points in his last five games for the Warriors and on Monday, he finished with 37 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. The Warriors point guard is not the only player to step up a level since the injury to Kevin Durant as Draymond Green again was instrumental in the win notching up 18 points, 11 assists and 14 rebounds which included a clutch three-pointer with just over 30 seconds remaining in overtime.

Curry and Green became the first teammates in NBA Playoff history to notch up triple-doubles in the same game. The Warriors will now have nine days of rest and recovery before the NBA Finals begin where they could face either the Milwaukee Bucks or the Toronto Raptors, with the series currently 2-1 in the favor of the Bucks.

The nature of the win becomes even more emphatic as the Warriors did it without three of their regular starters. Durant and DeMarcus Cousins have missed the entire series against the Blazers through injury, while they were also without Game 3 hero Andre Iguodala on Monday night. Curry praised the rest of the team for stepping up and admitted that the experience of being in multiple finals helped them crossover the line when necessary.

“We’ve been here before, with three starters down, everybody stepped up played amazing minutes and fought to the end,” Curry told ESPN after the game. “We could have said Game 5 was out game but we saw how long that break was going to be so we wanted to take advantage.”

Curry also spoke about his relationship with Green after they combined for 55 points, 22 assists and 27 rebounds, saying: “There’s a lot of trust, love and care in terms of what we bring to the table. He’s a competitor, he’s a dog just knows how to step up at the right moment and he trusts me too.”

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr praised the competitive desire of the players to make it to five straight NBA Finals something that has not been done since the Boston Celtics team in the 1960s. He also admits they were put in a tough spot with the injury to Kevin Durant but praised the players who stepped up in the small forward’s absence.