ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — Two nights after suffering their first loss at #Roaracle (against Boston) after 54 straight wins, the Golden State Warriors (68-8) got back in the saddle at #WarriorsGround to face the visiting Portland Trail Blazers (41-36).
The Warriors were without Andrew Bogut due to getting hit in the ribs against the Celtics. Festus Ezeli got the start in Bogut’s absence, while Andre Iguodala was upgraded from “out” to “doubtful” and Kevon Looney was still out with a sore hip.
The Blazers were without Meyers Leonard (left shoulder).
1st Quarter – Point Gods
Both teams came out hot and combined to shoot 15-for-21 over the first 5:20 of play. The #SplashBrothers both hit their first threes, Klay Thompson with a catch-and-shoot in transitiion, fed by Stephen Curry, after Al-Farouq Aminu made a bad jump pass that went straight to Curry.
Steph then added a quick-release catch-and-shoot from the right corner after Klay found Draymond Green.
Damian Lillard got a nice lefty driving “and-one” against Green, Ezeli got an alley-oop two-hand slam on a “tic-tac”toe” that started with Thompson-to-Draymond…
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…and Curry went high board on a drive inside:
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With 6:40 remaining and Lillard at the line, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called a timeout with the game tied, 18-18.
This time, Lillard and the Blazers got the Warriors with their favorite play: the offensive rebound then reload for a three…
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…while Curry missed his opportunity.
After a runner and an upfake that drew throws versus Anderson Varejao, who replaced Ezeli at the 7:36 mark, Lillard’s three put Portland up, 30-23.
The Blazers fell in love with going down the left side. After a Maurice Harkless made a lefty runner, Ed Davis went left side, and Lillard drilled another three.
All of a sudden, Portland was up, 37-25, approaching two minutes.
But Curry sensed the urgency and went lefty past Lillard, missing the layup and getting the whistle after-the-fact, then making both free throws.
After C.J. McCollum bricked a right wing jumper, Curry went with a series of crossovers and stepbacks to drain a triple over Gerald Henderson from the top, and Green blocked Lillard’s attack at the buzzer, preserving a 37-31 deficit after the opening stanza.
Lillard and Curry led all scorers with 14 points apiece. Harkless added 9 points for Portland while Green tallied 5 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.
2nd Quarter – Late Dazzles
The Warriors’ bench unit sparked the Dubs to start the second frame, with Marreese Speights hitting his first catch-and-shoot, Leandro Barbosa getting a floater, then a layup, knifing through the Blazers’ transition defense, and Portland head coach Terry Stotts called timeout as Golden State pulled to 38-37 with 10:08 to play.
Out of the timeout, Thompson returned and hit a defensive three-second technical, then this “and-one” turnaround jumper:
Klay Thompson showing his reps at the gym are paying off pic.twitter.com/soyCzFPEC7
— KNBR (@KNBR) April 4, 2016
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Brandon Rush blocked a drive by McCollum, the bench unit with Klay forced a shot clock violation, but McCollum finally broke the ice with a dribble-pull-up and Kerr called another timeout as the Blazers regained the lead, 42-41, to re-insert Curry.
But Steph made a bad pass that left the ball dribbling to the Portland end of the court, out of bounds baseline, and the Blazers capitalized with an inbound catch-and-shoot jumper by Gerald Henderson.
Curry added another turnover as a dribble drive pass to Speights went awry, and Alan Crabbe converted free throws on the fast break the other way.
Out of the timeout, Rush made another nice play as he got a rebound on McCollum’s missed fade-away, then dribbled up the court, stopped and popped from the left arc, and swished it through.
After a Crabbe floater fell short, Curry caught the ball on the deep left wing, took a dribble or two towards the middle with Green running interference, pulled up from 35 feet over the switched Davis, and buried a long triple:
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Stotts took a timeout as the Warriors went up, 47-46, with 5:25 to go.
Later, Klay made a nice dribble-and-pop swish after a lefty behind-the-back pass from Steph…
#SplashBrothers working together on @CSNAuthentic & @NBATV. pic.twitter.com/PsYjHlROE9
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) April 4, 2016
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…then Curry juked a switched Mason Plumlee for three:
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Aminu hit a three, but Harrison Barnes answered with a triple assisted by Curry, the Green got a feed from Steph and missed at the rim but got his own putback.
Harkless shot an airball from the right baseline, Curry got the board, ran ahead, and looked at Thompson setting up on the right arc, but dished to Barnes under the hoop for a nice no-look pass and two points:
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Lillard couldn’t hit over Draymond late in the shotclock, Thompson fed Green again for free throws on a Plumlee hack, and Lillard missed at the buzzer on a one-on-one versus Klay.
The Warriors took a 63-56 lead at the half as Curry led all scorers with 20 points on 7-for-12 field. Lillard countered with 16 points, but Green had 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists. Harkless had 12 points and 7 rebounds for the Blazers.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @ryan_fung9751)
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