Ian Clark was almost the story of the Warriors’ 127-104 win on Tuesday over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Almost…
The backup guard didn’t miss a shot from anywhere on the court (foul line included) finishing the first half with 16 points in 10 minutes including three makes from deep — and 22 total points.
It still wasn’t good enough to take home the nonexistent MVP trophy for the Warriors’ fourth game of the 2016-17 season. Rather it was the two-time reigning NBA MVP who stole the show and the entire third quarter before watching the last quarter from the bench.
Curry scored 23 points in the third quarter and began by nailing a deep triple at the 9:30 mark. He scored 11 of the team’s next 13 points and from there it was a barrage of 30-footers and circus layups.
Steph Curry’s third quarter became the story of this game.
And when it was all over, the Warriors had outscored the Trailblazers 41-20 and fans in the Moda Center became the first to witness the new-look Dubs put it together on both offense and defense for an entire 12-minute stretch.
And it was scary good.
Damian Lillard showed up with 31 points, just a hair under his season average through the first four games. It wasn’t nearly enough. He became a spectator just like everyone else on the court when Curry began his dominance.
It was a subtle yet strong reminder that this Warriors team still has all the pieces from last year that allowed it to bury teams with back-breaking runs in the blink of an eye.
As NBA League Pass’s last free game of the season, it can be assumed the rest of the league was watching.