By Matthew T.F. Harrington

Reuters photo: Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry holding the ball leading club to victory over the Portland Trailblazers

The Golden State Warriors kept their end of the bargain in setting up the primetime Western Conference Finals, moving past the Portland Trailblazers in a 4-1 series win. Golden State rallied from a halftime deficit to oust the Blazers from the playoffs with a 125-121 win at Oracle Arena Wednesday night. They now await the winner of the Oklahoma City-San Antonio series, with most pundits expecting a heavyweight clash between the reigning champions and Gregg Popovich’s Spurs.

The Splash Brothers led the Warriors charge highlighted by Klay Thompson’s team-best 33 points. In his second game back from injury, the unanimous Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry chipped in 29. Oakland’s own Damian Lillard did his best to stave off elimination, scoring 28 points for Portland. His frontcourt partner C.J. McCollum added 27.

The Warriors trailed by double-digits late into the 2^nd quarter, but managed to keep the Portland lead to 5 points down 63-58 at the half. Golden State outscored Portland 67-58 in the second half for the victory and another dominant series win.

All is not rosey for the Warriors though. Andrew Bogut came out of the game with an adductor injury. The Aussie center’s injury history looms as a concern as the Warriors head to the next round. Draymond Green also briefly exited the game with an injury, but returned to finish out the contest. He had 11 rebounds and 13 points for the Warriors.

For now, the Warriors will play the waiting game as they see who prevails in the other conference semifinal. The Spurs trail the Thunder 3-2, with game 6 set for Thursday night in Oklahoma City.