Damian Lillard scores 40 points and Portland beats Golden State as Stephen Curry sits out Game 3

Damian Lillard scored a playoff career-best 40 points and the Portland Trail Blazers avoided a fourth-quarter letdown to beat Golden State, 120-108, Saturday night at Portland, Ore., cutting the Warriors’ advantage in the Western Conference semifinal to 2-1.

The defending NBA champion Warriors were still without reigning MVP Stephen Curry, who sprained his right knee in Game 4 of the team’s first-round series against Houston.

Al-Farouq Aminu had 23 points and 10 rebounds, and C.J. McCollum scored 22 for Portland. The Trail Blazers led 58-46 at the half and stretched the lead to as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter.

Draymond Green had 37 points and Klay Thompson scored 35 for the Warriors, who had won four straight against the Trail Blazers.

Game 4 is Monday night in Portland.

Harrison Barnes’ three-pointer and Leandro Barbosa’s long jumper closed the gap to 105-92 for the Warriors with six minutes left. Lillard’s three-pointer with 2:47 to play made it 114-97, but Green answered with his own three.

Finally, McCollum’s three-pointer pushed the lead to 120-106 with 1:22 left and the Trail Blazers were out of danger.

Avoiding a fourth-quarter letdown was key for Portland. The Trail Blazers led 87-76 going into the fourth quarter of Game 2, but were outscored 34-12 the rest of the way. Portland managed just six points in the final 5:21. Lillard, who finished with 25 points including 17 in the third quarter, was held scoreless in the fourth.

The Trail Blazers came back from a 2-0 deficit in the opening round against the Clippers, whose chances dissipated after both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin went down with injuries.

Toronto 95, at Miami 91: Kyle Lowry scored 33 points on 11-for-19 shooting to snap out of a postseason funk and the Raptors won Game 3 to seize back the home-court edge in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

DeMar DeRozan scored 19 points, and Jonas Valanciunas finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds in only 22 minutes to help the Raptors take a 2-1 series lead.

Each team lost its starting center — Miami’s Hassan Whiteside left the game in the second quarter with a knee issue of undetermined severity, and Toronto’s Valanciunas suffered a sprained ankle in the third quarter.

Dwyane Wade had 29 of his 38 points after halftime and also had eight rebounds for Miami. Goran Dragic scored 12 points, and Joe Johnson had 10.

Game 4 is Monday night in Miami. The teams split overtime games in Toronto.