NBA Playoffs 2018-19: 3 Talking Points from Portland Trail Blazers vs Golden State Warriors, Game 1

The defending champions Golden State Warriors squared off against the Portland Trail Blazers in the game 1 of the Western Conference finals. The Warriors ended with an easy victory, by the scoreline of 116-94.

This was despite the fact that they were without Kevin Durant again. Durant is expected to be re-evaluated later this week.

The Warriors started off nicely against the Blazers. Towards the end of the first half, Steph Curry hit two consecutive three pointers to put the Warriors up by 9 at halftime.

The Blazers stuck with the Warriors for the entirety of the third quarter but they lost steam towards the start of the fourth, which made it a rather one-sided encounter.

Let's have a look at the key talking points from this match:

#3 Poor outing for the Blazers back court duo

Portland Trail Blazers v Golden State Warriors - The Warriors did a great job against Damian Lillard

The Blazers need their back court duo, Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, to be at their absolute best if they want to have any chance of beating the Warriors. But the two put in very disappointing performances in game 1.

Lillard made his first two shots of the match, but then turned very cold. He eventually ended the match with 19 points and 6 assists on a very inefficient 4-12 shooting from the field.

McCollum was the star in Game 7 against the Nuggets. But he struggled to make an impact against the Warriors and finished with just 17 points on 7-19 shooting from the field.

It must be said though that Klay Thompson did a great job on the defensive end. He made it very difficult for the Blazers back court duo to get their shots off.

The only thing that kept the Blazers in this match till the end of the third quarter was their huge advantage on the free throw line.

#2 Great outside shooting from the Warriors

Klay Thompson ended with 26 points

People expected the Golden State Warriors to struggle in the absence of Kevin Durant. However, they have been playing better and more freely since Durant's injury.

The Warriors have been moving the ball much better in the past few games and that has resulted in them getting some great open shots. They were great from outside in this match; they shot 17-33 from the 3PT line and 42-84 overall for the match.

On the other hand, the Portland Trail Blazers shot a poor 7-28 from the 3PT line and 30-83 overall for the match.

The discrepancy in shooting between the two teams was very clear in this match. The Warriors also had 13 steals, which resulted in them getting easy buckets in transition.

The Blazers must take care of their basketball in a more composed manner and also shoot at a much higher clip than what they did in this match.

#1 Too much Steph

Curry was 9-15 from the 3PT line in this match

There is no chance of the Blazers getting anything from this series if they continue to employ the same tactics that they implemented on Steph Curry in this match.

Curry is an all-time great player and possibly one of the best shooters that the world has ever seen. Since Durant left with his injury, Curry has scored 45 points in two fourth quarters against the Houston Rockets. He was again at his best in the match against the Blazers.

Curry hit 12 of 23 shots and tied his playoff career high by hitting 9 of 15 3-pointers on his way to 36 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, one steal and just one turnover. He struggled for consistency in the first four matches of the Western Conference semis, but has been lighting it up ever since.