Warriors takeaways: What we learned in 119-117 Game 4 win over Blazers

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PORTLAND, Ore - Golden State entered Game 4 of the Western Conference finals Monday evening with plans of sweeping the Portland Trail Blazers.

It took a while, but by the end of the night, they accomplished their goal -- overcoming a 17-point deficit to beat the Blazers 119-117 in overtime. 

With the win, the Warriors became the first team since the Boston Celtics of the 1950s to reach five consecutive NBA Finals

The win also allows the Warriors nine days of rest until Game 1 of the NBA Finals on May 30, which will be held in either Milwaukee or Toronto depending on which team wins the Eastern Conference Finals matchup. 

For now, here are the takeaways from Game 4. 

Steph Curry

Golden State Warriors

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With Kevin Durant and Andre Iguodala out, Curry took the reigns of the offense, finishing with 37 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. 

Curry played particularly well in the fourth quarter, helping the Warriors outscore Portland 32-22 over the fourth quarter and overtime. 

With Durant out, the offense will continue to center around Curry and Green going forward. 

Meyers Leonard

Building off his Game 3 performance, Leonard was unstoppable Monday evening, scoring 25 of his game-high 30 points on in the first half, on 10-of-12 shooting from the field. 

Leonard has been much maligned throughout his career in Portland, often relegated to a bench role for the majority of his career. 

While the Blazers will take this performance any night, Golden State will be content as long as Damian Lillard and CJ McCullum are not hurting them. 

[RELATED: Curry, Leonard both on fire in first half of Game 4]

Defense

Golden State's championship level defense was missing for much of the night. The Blazers shot 60.9 percent from the field in the first half. 

In addition to Leonard's exploits, CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard combined for 54 points of their own. 

Portland's success had much to do with the absence of Warriors forward Andre Iguodala, who was sidelined with a leg injury suffered in Game 3. The timeline of Iguodala's leg injury is uncertain, and so it was not surprising that Steve Kerr played Steph Curry the entire second half to make sure the series didn't last any longer.

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