Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers showed the Golden State Warriors that they can shoot the long ball, too.  
Lillard had 40 points and 10 assists Saturday night the  host Trail Blazers made 17 three-pointers to beat the  Warriors 120-108 in Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinal series.  
Al-Farouq Aminu made his first eight shots and scored 23 points for the fifth-seeded Trail Blazers, who lost the first two games on the road but bounced back with their best offensive performance of the postseason.
Portland shot 47 per cent (40-of-86) overall and made a franchise playoff record 17-of-30 from the arc.  
“We understand the situation our team was in,” said Lillard, who made 14-of-27 shots, including 8-of-13 three-pointers. “I wanted to come out and be aggressive and leave it all out here and that’s what I did.”   
In three home games against the Warriors this season, Lillard has scored 51, 40 and 40 points. Portland has won two of those, becoming the first team to beat Golden State twice.  
“I think we match up well with these guys,” Lillard said. “We can go small. We can score the ball ... We’ve just gotta play hard and play smart.”  
“You kind of run out of superlatives, but he’s such a great competitor,” Portland coach Terry Stotts said. “There’s no question in my mind that he was going to come and have a really good game tonight.”  
Aminu was 8-of-9 overall and 4-of-5 from the arc, adding 10 rebounds. Reserve Allen Crabbe sank two threes and scored 10 points.  
“(Aminu) was big time,” Lillard said. “It seems like all season long, whenever we’ve needed a big night, he’s come through for us.”  
En route to an NBA record 73 wins this season, the defending champion Warriors shattered league marks for three-pointers made and attempted, led by superstar Stephen Curry and All-Star backcourt mate Klay Thompson, known as the “Splash Brothers.”  
But Curry, the reigning Most Valuable Player, has not played in this series due to a sprained knee. The Blazers finally took advantage of his absence, grabbing the lead for good in the second quarter and never letting up.  
The top-seeded Warriors have to be wondering how long they can go without Curry. Coach Steve Kerr said before game that Curry would not play despite showing progress in his recovery, playing 2-on-2 with the coaching staff earlier Saturday.  
“We don’t have the luxury of staying with a set rotation,” Kerr said.  “We have to read what’s going on and play different people based on what we see and what we need.”   
Thompson scored 18 points in the first quarter as the Warriors built a 28-22 lead. But Lillard had 12 in the final five-plus minutes of the second quarter that extended a one-point lead to 58-46 at halftime.  A three-pointer by Lillard gave Portland a 93-77 lead late in the third quarter before Golden State’s Draymond Green made his fifth three-pointer of the period.  
A jumper by Lillard opened Portland’s largest lead at 105-85 with 7:19 remaining. The Warriors scored nine straight points before a jumper by C.J. McCollum and a layup by Lillard rebuilt the margin to 15 points. Lillard buried two three-pointers to seal it.  
“We let him get too many rhythm threes off the catch tonight and off the ball screens because that’s where he’s deadly,” Thompson said.  
McCollum overcame a slow start to score 22 points for Portland, which is 4-0 at home in the postseason and hosts Game 4 on Monday.  
Green had 37 points, nine rebounds and eight assists and Thompson scored 35 points for the Warriors, who sank 14 three-pointers but had their worst defensive effort of the playoffs. 

PLAYOFF RESULTS
Eastern Conference
At Miami
Toronto 95 Miami 91
(Toronto leads series 2-1)
Western Conference
At Portland
Portland 120 Golden State 108
(Golden State leads series 2-1)