Thursday 31 October 2019 13:42, UK
Stephen Curry said the Golden State Warriors showed their 'championship mentality' as they overcame a 17-point deficit to complete a 4-0 series sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers and advance to the NBA Finals for the fifth successive year.
Curry and Draymond Green both posted triple-doubles as the Warriors fought back to record a 119-117 overtime win at the Moda Center on Monday night.
Two-time MVP Curry, fresh off 36, 37 and 36-point performances in Games 1, 2 and 3, poured in 37 points in Game 4 while doling out 11 assists and pulling down 13 rebounds. With 39.6 seconds remaining, he found Green on the perimeter and the Golden State forward, who recorded 18 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists in the game, drilled what proved to be the series-clinching three-pointer.
He and Curry became the first team-mates in NBA postseason history to record twin triple-doubles in the same game. Green's was his fourth of this postseason, while Curry's was his first.
Speaking after the game, Curry said the Warriors' ability to repeatedly fight back from double-digit deficits against Portland spoke to his team's "championship mentality", particularly given the absence of injured starters Kevin Durant, DeMarcus Cousins and (in Game 4), Andre Iguodala.
"A night like tonight when we're up 3-0 and they go on a crazy run in the second half, a lot of teams would have said, 'We'll get them and Game 5 and go home, rely on our home crowd'," Curry said.
"Every game we hit the reset button. We knew it was going to be another dogfight. No matter what the score was or how many points we got down, we played for 48 minutes and played with confidence. We've been here before. Our championship mentality showed down the stretch.
"We know how to find that next gear. That comes with the experiences we've been through. Four more wins and we can get back to celebrating.
"I think the way that we play we don't take anything for granted. Every single night, especially when you get to the playoffs, there is a hunger about us and whether we win or lose we take pride in how we play. Five straight finals and the historic nature of what that is... kind of crazy to think about. We want to enjoy it, [but] we know four more wins defines your season - winning a championship, so got to stay locked in.
Green echoed Curry's sentiments. "We know we can cover 17 points in a matter of three or four minutes so we always try to keep that mindset that we are never out of the game and we just need to make solid plays," he said. "It definitely helps to have 'Number 30' (Curry)."
Golden State head coach Steve Kerr hailed the performances of Green and Curry.
"Draymond is an amazing playmaker and Steph is so lethal he is going to draw a lot of attention," he said. "They've been doing this for a long time so they've got a real feel for each other.
Asked about the Warriors reaching their fifth successive NBA Finals series, Kerr said: "I hope it doesn't go unnoticed or underrated. You know, five straight Finals hasn't been done since the 60s, since Bill Russell's Celtics.
"Hasn't been done for a reason: It's really, really difficult. I just can't say enough about the competitive desire about the group of players that we have here and the culture that they have built together.
"You know, playing together regardless of injury. Being without Kevin [Durant] these last five games has put us in a really tough spot, and our guys stepped up in a big way."
Golden State will face the winners of the Eastern Conference Finals series between the Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors in the NBA Finals.
