The Golden State Warriors (33-2) were at Moda Center to face the Portland Trail Blazers (15-23).
The Warriors were without Leandro Barbosa and had Kevon Looney on assignment in the D-League.
1st Quarter – Klay On Fire
The Warriors got off to a “blazing” start as Stephen Curry got an early triple, then got to the hole and converted a fade-away in the paint high off the backboard:
Making it look easy on @CSNAuthentic.
@StephenCurry30 #NBAVote pic.twitter.com/h8Jj90jE3d
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) January 9, 2016
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Curry would, however, miss his next three threes, two of them from the right corner, but Brandon Rush drilled a catch-and-shoot from the left corner thanks to a Klay Thompson swing pass initiated by Draymond Green…
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…then another from the left corner after Klay drove down the right side and fed Rush with a one-handed pass.
Mason Plumlee saved a ball going out of bounds right to Curry and Steph went coast-to-coast for a layup, C.J. McCollum missed, and Green led a break and found Curry for another fastbreak layup.
That made it 19-6, Warriors, with 5:02 to go.
After that, Thompson caught fire, hitting a right-wing trey.
Damian Lillard finally answered back, realizing he needed to get his team on track, but Andrew Bogut flipped the entry pass to Curry, who threw a touchdown pass to Green for yet another quick two points:
How good are the Warriors? They just dunked in transition off a made basket. pic.twitter.com/C983xLdLmh
— Dieter Kurtenbach (@dkurtenbach) January 9, 2016
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Later, Lillard stuck a step-back over Marreese Speights on a pick-and-roll switch, but Klay answered with a deep three from the left wing over Allen Crabbe, giving Golden State a 27-11 lead with 3:36 to play.
Perhaps the only thing Thompson couldn’t get was an alley-oop out of a timeout, the two-handed dunk rimming out, but Klay got plenty else, starting with a triple on a catch-and-shoot from the right wing, assisted by Curry.
The Warriors had a little brain fart as Ed Davis got an alley-oop from Lillard, Harrison Barnes missed a jumper, Lillard went down the lane for an uncontested emphatic slam, and Speights mishandled a pass to Klay, leading to a Crabbe run-out.
But Thompson put out that fire with a splash from the top on another catch-and-shoot from Barnes, to make it 33-17, Golden State, with 1:13 remaining:
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Speights made another turnover as Lillard stole his bad pass, but missed a floater, and Klay made the Blazers pay again as he trailed Andre Iguodala and rained from a couple feet beyond the arc from the left wing, as Iguodala passed the ball back to him.
With six seconds left, Lillard stuck a jumper, but Thompson took the inbound, dribbled all the way down to the left wing and got a pull-up fade to drop at the buzzer, exalting and giving himself 19 points as the first quarter ended with the Warriors up, 36-21:
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2nd Quarter – Bench Holds, Starters Push Ahead
The bench unit did well to maintain the 15-point cushion, with Ian Clark not only supplying two threes, but also a block of a Crabbe jumper from behind.
With just under seven minutes remaining up 49-34, Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton re-inserted Curry and Thompson.
Klay took a side inbound down the left lane, lefty scoop, and Gerald Henderson got called for a goal-tending.
Blazers fans wanted the same call on the other end, but Green blocked McCollum’s layup, then it hit the board, and the Warriors were off and running, with Curry missing a pull-up trey, and Draymond getting fouled on the hustle rebound.
Later, Lillard pulled up from the left wing for a triple, but Shaun Livingston responded immediately with a coast-to-coast layup ending with a lefty banker.
McCollum got a three from the top, but Green answered that with a strong layup from the right baseline, and Blazers head coach Terry Stotts called a timeout with 5:11 to go in the half, the Warriors still up, 57-41.
Out of the timeout, Plumlee got a tough running hook to carom in over Bogut, but Bogut came right back with an alley-oop “put-in” as Thompson drove in and lofted him an over-the-shoulder lob:
.@KlayThompson lobs to Bogut on CSNBA. #NBAVote pic.twitter.com/lmAK2pglZt
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) January 9, 2016
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Stotts went with a “Hack-A-Bogut” and Bogut made the first attempt, but shanked the second one badly on a line-drive delivery, but later Lillard went left baseline on Klay, only to get his shot blocked by Rush.
Iguodala ran the break and found Rush for a trailing two-handed dunk:
Brandon Rush getting it done on both ends on CSNBA. pic.twitter.com/UZ6t2DUaBa
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) January 9, 2016
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Stotts called another timeout and Golden State was now up, 67-48, with 2:51 to go before halftime.
The Warriors had 20 assists on 25 made field goals as Thompson led the way with 24 points on 9-for-14 shooting, 6-for-7 from deep, while Curry added 13 points and 6 assists, and Green tallied 9 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists.
Lillard, who nearly tore a knee ligament on a blocked shot of a Curry scoop late in the 2nd quarter, but was seemingly unharmed, led the Blazers with 20 points.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @matty_boombatty)
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