Lillard fires Trail Blazers to win over Warriors

Damian Lillard scored a career play-off-high 40 points and dished out 10 assists to lead the Portland Trail Blazers past the Golden State Warriors 120-108 on Saturday night at the Moda Centre.

Al Farouq Aminu collected 23 points and 10 rebounds and C. J. McCollum added 22 points for the Trail Blazers, who narrowed Golden State’s lead in the Western Conference semifinals to 2-1. Game 4 takes place Monday night in Portland.

Lillard was 14 for 27 from the field, including 8 for 13 from 3-point range. Aminu was 8-for-9 from the field, making four of his five 3-point attempts.

Draymond Green contributed a career playoff high 37 points, nine rebounds and eight assists and Klay Thompson added 35 points for the Warriors, who were without injured star Stephen Curry.

Green finished with 13-for-23 shooting, going 8-for-12 from beyond the arc.

Lillard scored 25 points and Aminu contributed 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting in the second quarter as Portland carried a 58-46 lead into half-time. Thompson had 24 in the half for the Warriors, who were outscored 36-18 in the second period.

Portland increased its lead to 63-50, but Green buried back-to-back 3’s to whittle the margin to 63-56. The Blazers regained control with a 12-4 run that upped the advantage to 76-60. With Aminu leading the way, the Blazers took a 93-80 edge into the fourth quarter.

The Blazers increased the difference to 105-85, but Golden State used a 9-0 run to close within 105-94 with 5:25 remaining. Portland scored the next five points, and the Warriors never came closer than 12 the rest of the way.

Golden State jumped to a 16-9 lead as the Blazers started 4-for-16 from the field. Thompson scored 18 points as the Warriors carried a 28-22 advantage after the first quarter. Lillard had 11 for Portland.

The Blazers scored the first seven points of the second period to go in front 29-28. A Lillard 3-pointer pushed them ahead 42-36, and they extended the margin to 12 points at the break.

Raptors douse Heat

In a game in which both starting centres did not return after sustaining leg injuries, Kyle Lowry scored 33 points as the Toronto Raptors defeated the Miami Heat 95-91 on Saturday in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Raptors lead the best-of-seven series 2-1. Game 4 is Monday in Miami.

Lowry, who had been slumping in the first two games of the series, scored 15 points in the third quarter, going 3 of 3 on 3-pointers. He then added 14 points in the fourth quarter, including a jumper over Dwyane Wade with 31 seconds left to give Toronto a three-point lead.

The Heat’s Joe Johnson missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 16.8 seconds left that would have tied the score.

Miami were led by Wade, who scored 18 of his 38 points in the third quarter. He had 11 points in the fourth quarter but missed a contested 3-pointer with 9.5 seconds left with Miami down by four.

However, Heat centre Hassan Whiteside reinjured his right knee with 10:53 left in the second quarter. He had hurt the knee in Game 1 but kept playing.

This time, Whiteside, who led the NBA in blocked shots this season and finished third in balloting for the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, left the game with six points and no rebounds in eight minutes,

Toronto centre Jonas Valanciunas, who averaged 19.5 points and 13 rebounds in the first two games, had 16 points and 12 rebounds when he sprained his right ankle with 8:53 left in the third quarter.

The Raptors led 55-42 when the injury happened to Valanciunas, who was hurt when he tried to block a Wade layup and fell awkwardly.

Toronto led early, taking a 23-19 lead after the first quarter and 49-40 at the half. The Raptors heated up in the second quarter, shooting 68.8 per cent from the floor and leading by as many as 11 points.

The Heat, which shot just 46.2 per cent from the floor in the first half, had one rather unexpected highlight in the second quarter. That’s when back-up centre Josh McRoberts, playing for Whiteside, blocked a dunk attempt by Valanciunas, leading to a Luol Deng lay-up.

In the third quarter, Wade had a sensational play, following his own missed mid-range jumper by dunking the ball with his right hand, all in one motion. That seemed to ignite Wade for his huge quarter as the Heat rallied to tie the score 68-68.