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

The Warriors were still without Steph 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 added 22 points 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 added 35 for the Warriors. They had won four straight against the Blazers.

Game 4 is Monday night in Portland.

Harrison Barnes’ 3-pointer and Leandro Barbosa’s long jumper closed the gap to 105-92 for the Warriors with six minutes left. Lillard’s 3-pointer with 2:47 made it 114-97, but Green answered with his own 3.

McCollum’s 3-pointer pushed Portland’s lead to 120-106 with 1:22 left and the Warriors couldn’t catch up.

Avoiding a fourth-quarter letdown was key for Portland. The Blazers led 87-76 going into the fourth quarter of Game 2 but were outscored 34-12 by the Warriors. 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.

Lillard contended with a chest cold in the first game of the series. But he tends to respond to adversity.

After he was snubbed for an All-Star bid this season he scored 51 points, including nine 3-pointers, in a 137-105 victory over the Warriors on Feb. 19. It was one of just nine losses for the Warriors in a record-setting 73-win season.

RAPTORS 95, HEAT 91: Shaking off playoff struggles, Kyle Lowry scored five straight Toronto points to break a late tie and lift the Raptors at Miami in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Lowry finished with 33 points on 11-for-19 shooting, including 5 of 8 from 3-point range, to help the Raptors take a 2-1 series lead after the teams split overtime games in Toronto. He had 29 points in the second half.

Toronto center Jonas Valanciunas limped off with a sprained ankle in the third quarter. Miami lost starting center Hassan Whiteside to a knee issue of still-unclear severity in the second quarter.

For Toronto, DeMar DeRozan scored 19 points, and Valanciunas had 16 points and 12 rebounds in 22 minutes.

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

NOTES

GRIZZLIES: Memphis fired its head coach, Dave Joerger, in a surprising move after three seasons and three straight playoff appearances.

The team was battered by injuries and finished the regular season at 42-40 before being swept in the first round by San Antonio.