Warriors hold off Blazers to take 3-0 series lead

Warriors hold off Blazers to take 3-0 series lead

In March, when he was laboring through one of the most extended shooting slumps of his career, Stephen Curry took solace in a remedy that has yet to fail him: keep shooting.

For perhaps the best shooter in NBA history, clanged jumpers figure to persist for only so long.

In Game 3 of the first round Saturday, after struggling from the field for three-plus quarters, Curry reinforced the importance of not losing faith in himself.

Within 24 seconds in the final minute, the two-time reigning NBA MVP hit two jumpers — a three-pointer and a 9-footer — to help seal the Warriors’ 119-113 win over the Trail Blazers.

Golden State enters Game 4 on Monday with a 3-0 series lead and breathing room.

With Kevin Durant watching from the bench in street clothes, Curry and Klay Thompson shot a combined 18-for-46 from the field.

After Thompson scored 14 points to power Golden State’s game-changing third quarter, Curry hit the two most important shots he took.

“I know for sure that I wasn’t concerned” about Curry, interim head coach Mike Brown said.

More than any other club, the Warriors are adept at washing away an ugly half with an inspired third quarter.

After the Warriors trailed by 13 points at halftime, Thompson jolted out of his malaise with four three-pointers in the quarter.

The long-range barrage freed up driving lanes, paving the way for a 21-3 run in a little under five minutes late in the quarter that gave Golden State its first lead since the game’s opening minute.

Over the next three days, Golden State coaches seized any opportunity to remind players of their recent Game 3 issues.

The Warriors entered Saturday 2-7 in Game 3s the past three seasons.

With head coach Steve Kerr back at the team hotel dealing with an illness, Brown took over the interim coaching role.

Jusuf Nurkic, the Blazers’ starting center who had been sidelined since March 30 with a leg injury, was cleared to return minutes before tip-off and played 16½ minutes, grabbing 11 rebounds but scoring only two points and laboring after halftime.

Three nights after they held Portland to 81 points on 33.3 percent shooting, the Warriors deviated from their relentless, switch-heavy blueprint.

The Blazers attacked the glass, feasted on open looks and built a 16-point lead midway through the second quarter.

A Golden State team that led the league with 30.4 assists per game in the regular season stood around and watched instead of making the extra pass.

“They took it to another level” in the third, Portland head coach Terry Stotts said.

[...] to become the first unanimous MVP in NBA history last year, he weathered off nights by continuing to shoot.

Needing only one more win to move onto the conference semifinals, they have the luxury of being cautious with Durant, Livingston, Barnes and even Kerr.

Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

Warriors 110, Blazers 81

Warriors 119, Blazers 113