Durant, Warriors withstand comeback by Trail Blazers
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Kevin Durant scored 33 points to go with 10 rebounds and six assists as the Golden State Warriors beat the Portland Trail Blazers 113-111 Sunday night at Moda Center.
Klay Thompson added 27 points for the Warriors (41-7), who won their third straight game and 10th in the last 11 outings.
CJ McCollum collected 28 points and seven rebounds and Damian Lillard added 19 points and eight assists for the Trail Blazers (21-28), who saw the end to a three-game win streak.
Portland had a chance to win at the end, but Evan Turner's 3-point attempt was short just before the final horn.
Durant had 15 points as the Warriors took a 53-50 lead into the half, but the Blazers erased nearly all of what had been a 21-point deficit in the final six minutes of the second quarter.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Turner drew Portland even at 64-64 early in the third quarter. Then Andre Iguodala capped a 20-8 Golden State run with successive treys for an 84-72 lead. The Warriors took an 84-74 advantage into the final period.
Portland cut the difference to 90-89 on a McCollum 3-pointer with 8:20 remaining. Al-Farouq Aminu's driving layup tied it at 91-91 with 6:31 to play.
The Warriors regained the lead at 99-95 with 4:09 left. Mason Plumlee's rebound basket cut it to 99-97 with 2:41 to play, but Durant sank a jumper to make it 101-97 with two minutes to go.
Turner knocked down a short jumper to trim it to 101-99, but Durant answered and it was 103-99 with 1:26 to go. Thompson's 3 pushed Golden State ahead 106-99 with 37.5 seconds remaining.
Lillard made three free throws to cut it to 106-102 six seconds later, but Durant followed with a pair of foul shots to make it 108-102 with 30.4 seconds left.
Lillard drove for a quick score, and Thompson made only 1 of 2 at the line for a 109-104 lead with 25.7 seconds to play. McCollum bombed in a 3-pointer, and the difference was only 109-107 with 17.8 seconds left.
Thompson sank a pair of gift shots to up Golden State's edge to 111-107 with 16.7 seconds remaining. Turner drove for a layup to cut it to 111-109 with 12 seconds to go, but Thompson went back to the line and made two for a 113-109 lead with 10 seconds on the clock.
Turner drove for another basket to cut it to 113-111 for 5.5 ticks left, and Durant was called for an offensive foul on the inbounds play.
After a timeout, Turner had a wide-open 3-point attempt but it bounced off the rim as time expired.
Portland led 8-6 early, but the Warriors used a 14-2 run to go ahead 20-10. They extended it to 25-14 and settled for a 33-23 advantage after one quarter.
Golden State increased the margin to 51-30 midway through the second quarter, but the Trail Blazers closed on a 20-2 tear to get to within 53-50 at the half.
NOTES: Warriors G Stephen Curry made the team flight to Portland before sitting out the game. "He was fine (Saturday night), but woke up this morning really sick," coach Steve Kerr said. "Steph wanted to play. He wanted to tough it out, but it didn't make sense from a personal or team standpoint. He'll watch the game at the hotel and join up with us on the flight home." G Shaun Livingston started in Curry's place. ... Portland F Moe Harkless (calf) returned after missing the previous two games. Blazers F Ed Davis (wrist) sat out his fourth consecutive game. ... Golden State beat Portland for the sixth consecutive meeting. ... The Warriors entered the game ranked No. 1 in the NBA in defensive efficiency, the Blazers 27th. ... Golden State also led the league in scoring (118.1 points per game), field-goal percentage (.502) and blocked shots (6.4 per game) and were second in 3-point percentage (.388).