Warriors rally by Blazers with big fourth quarter

Five takeaways from the Golden State Warriors’ 110-99 comeback victory vs. the Portland Trail Blazers to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven series.

1. You can’t waste good opportunities vs. the Warriors, and the Blazers wasted a monster one. Portland got a number of things to go its way. They had a huge night from Damian Lillard, a great night from Al-FArouq Aminu, a terrific defensive performance, an off night — at least for three quarters — from the Warriors, a good night at drawing fouls, and of course, Stephen Curry was out. The Blazers were never going to have a better chance to beat the champs on the road.

And they blew it.

Portland just didn’t have the weapons to keep up and in Oracle Arena with the way the Warriors just keep coming at you with relentless pressure on both ends and precise execution, they just could not hold on. The Blazers had a 17-point lead that just evaporated in the fourth quarter.

If you’re going to play Cinderella in the NBA, you have to hit all the right buttons. You can’t just have a good game and the other team have a bad game. You have to make sure you play error free. The Blazers made too many mistakes, including five turnovers in the fourth quarter alone, and you can’t do that on the road, not vs. the Warriors.

Maybe Portland can respond, but this was a game they had a real opportunity to win, and they couldn’t capitalize. Teams with home-court who go up 2-0 have won 94 percent of the time throughout NBA history. It’s pretty much over.

2. The …

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