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Warriors at Blazers NBA Playoff preview: Stephen Curry, Golden State aim to close out Portland at Oracle

It’s all smiles at the Oracle Arena tonight as Dub Nation celebrates Stephen Curry’s second back-to-back MVP award. The Golden State Warriors look to close out the series against the Portland Trail Blazers!

Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports
Matchup

Golden State Warriors
3-1 (2-0 HOME)
vs
Portland Trail Blazers
1-3 (0-3 ROAD)
Details
May 11, 2016
Oracle Arena — Oakland, CA
7:30 p.m. PST
TNT | KNBR 680 AM
Blog Buddy: Blazer's Edge
Projected Starters
Stephen Curry
G Damian Lillard
Klay Thompson G C.J. McCollum
Harrison Barnes F Maurice Harkless
Draymond Green F Al-Farouq Aminu
Andrew Bogut C Mason Plumlee
Key Injuries
None

Meyers Leonard (shoulder) - Out

Team Overviews

The Golden State Warriors. This series has been one exciting roller coaster ride of emotion for Golden State, who is looking to wrap it up tonight. After demolishing Portland in Game 1, escaping a loss in Game 2, and losing Game 3 on Saturday, guess who's back? The two-time MVP Stephen Curry made his triumphant return Monday night, recording 40 points, 17 in overtime. The gang's back together, healthy, and just one win away from moving onto the Western Conference Finals!

Warriors Fun Facts:

The Portland Trail Blazers. Talk about missed opportunities. For us Warriors fans, Monday's sloppy start was a bit of a scare (until they rallied back!). For Portland's sake, they need to find a way to contain Golden State's shooters and close out their games in the fourth if they want to keep this series going.

Last Game: GSW, 132-125 OT (Monday, May 9th, 2016)

What more is there to say about that game? It makes everything else difficult to watch. Kudos to the GSoM community members who posted FanShots with highlights from Game 4, but definitely check out Hugo's recap and Apricot's breakdown if you want to continue to live in that moment.

Going for win number 8!

Key to the game: Containment

Force Portland to make bad shots. Damian Lillard was 9-for-30 (5-18 from the three-point line) on Monday. Push and smother the Trail Blazers on defense and break up the team chemistry any way you can. If we strike first and keep the shooting percentage up, we can check the box on our eighth playoff win.

Highlights/Predictions:

"If I don't think they're done, I don't know who else is going to think it, we're going home with a 3-1 lead. I trust our team to come out ready to go and close this series out. We did what we needed to do; we came on the road and got one win." -Draymond Green (via ESPN)
  • Stephen Curry. Now that he's got a feel for the game and his shooting stroke is back, I'm predicting Steph's gonna Steph and torch up that first quarter and not let up. He's going to be mentally focused for this one; let's hope he's physically up to the task as well (he reported some soreness after last game).
  • Draymond Green is going to be all over the place tonight. Let him do his thing — it's what triple doubles are made of!
  • Coach Kerr. Close out games are never easy but with a squad like this, with the right adjustments and the plan of attack, everyone's going to be pulling for a win.
  • The fans. Just be loud. REAL LOUD. Warriors fans are in for a treat as Steph receives his MVP award before tip off and for chance for GSW to close the series. Have a great time y'all!

Win Prediction

It's a wrap Portland, you're in our house tonight and the Warriors are hungry to move on to the next round. Dubs up 127-111.

ICYMI: (Posts from GSoM)

Stephen Curry becomes first unanimous MVP in NBA league history

Recap: Stephen Curry is reborn, goes nuclear against the Trail Blazers in overtime

Warriors defeat Blazers in Game 4: Stephen Curry has 17 in OT

Stephen Curry wins second consecutive MVP award, joins elite group

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