Warriors vs Trail Blazers: Game 3 Score, Twitter Reaction from 2016 NBA Playoffs

For three weeks, some have been wondering when the Golden State Warriors would show their first sign of slippage without Stephen Curry. Their answer came Saturday night.

Damian Lillard scored 40 points and Al-Farouq Aminu had a career night, as the Portland Trail Blazers lit the nets on fire in a 120-108 blowout of the defending champions at the Moda Center. Golden State holds a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven semifinal series.

The Blazers shot 46.5 percent from the floor and made 17 of their 30 shots from three-point range. They built their lead largely on the back of a 36-18 second quarter. Lillard, whose 40 points were a playoff career high, scored 25 as part of the first-half run and had 14 in the second quarter. 

The All-Star point guard finished with eight threes, and he added 10 assists for his first double-double of these playoffs. He's the first Blazer since Arvydas Sabonis in 1996 to have four straight postseason games of 25 or more points. While there are few NBA players worthy of a Chance the Rapper meme, Lillard is one:

Aminu was his co-star every step of the way, hitting his first eight shots en route to a 23-point, 10-rebound breakout. The defensive-minded forward, who became comfortable beyond the three-point arc for the first time in his career this season, couldn't miss. He was 4-of-5 from distance and was responsible for 11 points in the critical second quarter.

His performance had some Pelicans fans lamenting the loss of the former New Orleans forward:

Third in command Saturday night was C.J. McCollum, who overcame a difficult first half to finish with 22 points. McCollum missed seven of his nine shots in the first half before knocking down six of nine in the second. With reserve guards Allen Crabbe and Gerald Henderson combining to shoot 4-of-16, McCollum coming back to life was imperative to Portland's lead. 

With Curry missing his sixth of his team's eight playoff games, the Warriors devolved almost completely into a two-man team. Draymond Green shattered his playoff career high with 37 points, adding nine rebounds and eight assists for a near-triple-double. Green hit eight threes, also a career high, and spent most of the game playing center as head coach Steve Kerr went small.

BBallBreakdown complimented Green's game:

Klay Thompson added 35 points, knocking down five three-pointers. Thompson is averaging 33 points per game for the series and has knocked down at least five threes in every contest. Going back to the Rockets series, Thompson has hit 31 threes in his last five games.

Other than Thompson and Green? The Warriors got a whole heaping pile of nothing. Leandro Barbosa was their next-leading scorer off the bench with 10 points. Thompson and Green were responsible for 51 of Golden State's 88 field-goal attempts and 21 of its 29 three-point shots.

Harrison Barnes shot 2-of-8 from the floor on his way to a seven-point performance. If he was looking to prove himself capable of handling a bigger role before hitting free agency, Curry's injury hasn't helped him whatsoever.

Barnes was dismal in the Houston series, and he's shown a dispiriting unwillingness to be aggressive against Portland. Watching Aminu, who was available on the scrap heap, outplay Barnes should be a wake-up call to his major proponents.

Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer wasn't impressed:

Andre Iguodala also missed all five of his shots in a one-point effort. With Shaun Livingston never being one to take over the scoring effort and Andrew Bogut stapled to the bench thanks to Kerr's small lineup, these are nights where Curry's effect on this roster become glaringly apparent.

In the macro sense, this loss doesn't mean much. The Warriors are still going to win this series, probably in five games. Portland was 28-13 at home this season; it was bound to take one of these two games with Curry out of the lineup. Lillard's done nothing but prove himself as a superstar all year, so we all should have expected one of these games.

Even so, it took a career night from Aminu to put away the Warriors for good. Golden State still has two of the 20 best players in basketball when Curry's on the bench, and the Iggy-Barnes combo isn't going to go 2-of-13 again. 

The Warriors are fine. They're just a team playing at less than 100 percent without the best player on the planet. It happens. 

Postgame Reaction

Lillard was pleased with the performance, per Michael Singer of USA Today: "I'm a confident person, all around, even when I step away from the game. Our team, I think we match up well with these guys. We can go small, we can score the ball. But it's more of a mental thing. Staying locked in for the whole game because this team can run off on you with those three-pointers."

Kerr complimented Portland coach Terry Stotts, per ESPN.com: "I just admire what they're (the Blazers) doing. They're one of my favorite teams to watch in an off night."

NBATV provided video of Stotts complimenting Aminu:

Green also seemed disappointed in his performance:

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