In a series that resembled a prize fight, the final blow was delivered by MVP titleholder Stephen Curry.
The Warriors beat the Trail Blazers 125-121 on Wednesday night to advance to the Western Conference finals in five games. They will take on the winner of the Thunder-Spurs series.
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Another dagger Curry 3-pointer gave the Warriors a five-point lead with 24 seconds remaining. Curry finished with 29 points, 14 in the fourth quarter.
Despite taking every punch the Blazers dealt, you never got the sense the Warriors weren’t going to win the game or the series. But Portland made them work for it in each of the last four games.
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“They didn’t back down at all,” Klay Thompson, who finished with a game-high 33 points, told TNT after the game. “It was a fun series. I think it prepared us for the next round.”
"We knew it was going to be a dogfight every game," Curry told TNT after the game.
Indeed, the Trail Blazers threw every jab, hook and combo in the book and they still lost in five games.
Many of today’s sports fans never saw Muhammad Ali in his prime, but watching the Warriors might be pretty close. They can dance around, rope-a-dope and absorb a punch, but no matter how many hits they take, you know they are just one punch away from putting their opponents on their backs.
Stud of the Night
After a poor performance Monday night, the Raptors' backcourt of DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry combined for 59 points as Toronto beat the Heat 99-91 to take a 3-2 series lead back to Miami.
BIRDSONG: Biyombo gives Raptors needed spark
Dud of the Night
The Heat’s starting frontline had a bad night Wednesday. Amare Stoudemire, Joe Johnson and Luol Deng combined to score just 15 points on 5-for-21 shooting, with Deng going 0 for 8.
Tweet of the Night
Curry didn't go for 40, but his 28 turned out to be good enough to push the Warriors to the next round.
MVP moves on TNT. #NBARapidReplay #WARRIORSvBLAZERS https://t.co/KpXYJHMtvD
— NBA (@NBA) May 12, 2016
Looking ahead
Spurs at Thunder, Game 6, 8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN (Thunder lead 3-2): The Spurs are on the ropes after their second home loss of the series in Game 5. Do the Thunder have the killer instinct to take down the Spurs at home, or will this one head back to San Antonio for Game 7?