Curry scores 40 as Warriors push Blazers to brink of elimination

LOS ANGELES, USA – Stephen Curry returned from injury to deliver an overtime performance for the ages Monday, scoring 17 points in the extra session to lift Golden State to a 132-125 win over Portland in Game 4 of their playoff series.

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 NBA Western Conference finals.

Curry, who sat out the past 4 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 9 rebounds and 8 assists.

Warrior coach Steve Kerr started his news conference Monday by joking, “Steph will start on Wednesday night”, referring to game five.

Kerr said he expected to have to limit Curry’s minutes Monday 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 been through a lot in the last 3 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, 9 rebounds, 7 blocked shots and 5 assists for the Warriors.

Damian Lillard scored 36 points and handed out 10 assists, CJ McCollum added 24 points, and Al-Farouq Aminu chipped in 18 points and 13 rebounds for the Blazers, who will attempt to extend the series by winning Wednesday, May 11 (Thursday Manila time) at Oracle Arena. – Rappler.com