Warrior Wonders: Curry, Green shine as Warriors edge Blazers 119-117 to clinch fifth consecutive NBA Finals appearance

Another 17-point deficit. Another comeback victory. And for the Golden State Warriors, another trip to the NBA Finals.

The Dubs punched their fifth consecutive ticket to the NBA Finals as they dismissed a gutsy Portland Trailblazers squad 119-117 in overtime.

The theme for Game 4 as well as the whole series was all about mental toughness. Once again, the Warriors had it while the Blazers didn’t. Portland had their chances-Up by 15 in Game 2, and as many as 17 in Games 3 and 4. You can look at this as:

The Warriors gave the Blazers two games and they wouldn’t take them. Or, the Warriors’ heart, pride, mentality and championship experience would not let them lose. Neither is wrong.

When it comes to the Warrior Wonder of a series clinching Game 4, you can’t go wrong with either Stephen Curry or Draymond Green getting the honors. But why must there be an either/ or situation, when you can have both as Warrior Wonders?

Stephen Curry: 37 points/ 13 rebounds/11 assists

Curry came in Game 4 hot. In the first quarter, he got whatever he wanted offensively as he lit up the Blazers’ defense for 12 points in the first quarter. When he returned close to the midway mark in the second quarter, Curry continued his aggressiveness and ended the half with 25 points.

When the Blazers was up by 17 late in the third, Curry’s 30 foot three didn’t just trim the lead to 14. It was the catalyst of a 9-0 Warriors run which trimmed the lead to eight at the beginning of the fourth.

As the game progressed, Curry’s continued his impact by his hustle on the glass and playmaking. Curry is an underrated rebounder and whenever he has a double-digit rebounding game, regardless of how rare it is, it makes me wonder how often he could do this if motivated to crash the boards. For all of the scoring that Curry did during the game, ironically it was his assist to Draymond Green for the late three that put the Warriors up by four (119-115) late in the extra period.

Draymond Green: 18 points/14 rebounds/11 assists

Once again, Draymond Green provided the energy, fight and intensity that the Warriors needed to close out the series. As a playmaker, Green made a point to play fast paced. It didn't matter if Portland scored or the Warriors snagged a rebound or a stop, Green was pushing the tempo from one end of the floor to the other, and it worked. Thanks to Green’s hustle, the Warriors scored 11 points in transition and some of the 62 points that they scored in the paint was the result of quickly pushing the ball ahead before Portland’s defense had time to set up.

While Green scored 18, most of his points were in the paint. He only made two shots beyond five feet in the game. One of them was the game winning 3 in overtime.