Golden State Warriors: 5 Takeaways From Game 3 vs. Blazers

2. No Need To Overreact

Lillard finding his groove is worrisome, Portland has outplayed Golden State in about six of the last eight quarters of this series, and the Blazers won’t roll over as easily as the Houston Rockets did in the first round. But as easy as it’d be to let doubt creep in, there were too many random X-factors that went Portland’s way for the Dubs to be concerned just yet.

In Game 3, Lillard overcame his struggles from the first two games. Al-Farouq Aminu was unconscious, finishing with 23 points and four three-pointers on 8-of-9 shooting after being a non-factor in the first two games. C.J. McCollum chipped in 22 points after struggling in Game 1 and bouncing back in Game 2. The Blazers made 23 free throws while the Warriors only attempted 17, making just 10 of those.

Even Golden State’s impressive three-point shooting (14-for-29) was outdone by Portland’s long range display (17-for-30). Shaun Livingston had just five points. Andre Iguodala had one. Harrison Barnes went 2-for-8. The Blazers’ bench outscored the Warriors’ second unit by a 27-18 margin.

The point being: How many random, flukey things like that are going to reoccur in Game 4? Given what we know about the Warriors and their historic ability to bounce back after losses (remember, they have yet to lose back-to-back games in the 2015-16 campaign, making them the only team in NBA history to do so), there’s no need to overreact just yet.

Next: No. 1