ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — Two nights after defeating the Nuggets at #Roaracle, the Golden State Warriors (30-5) continued their home stand against the Portland Trail Blazers (15-21).
The Warriors had everyone healthy and head coach Steve Kerr placed Anderson Varejao and James McAdoo on the inactive list against the thin frontline of the Blazers, thus activating rookies Patrick McCaw and Damian Jones.
The Blazers were without Damian Lillard (left ankle) and Festus Ezeli (left knee).
Q1: Balanced Start, Poor Finish
Starting with Stephen Curry…
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[protected-iframe id=”2198d542f080255d9595b934669a2e26-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FNBA%2Fstatus%2F816853351958605825″ width=”680″ height=”320″ frameborder=”0″]Golden State pulled away early, 16-7, after Kevin Durant split a double-team then fed Pachulia, who then bolted down the lane for a rare layup that started outside the paint.
Draymond Green had a nice tap-out offensive rebound to Klay Thompson for a short jumper, but earlier on, Zaza made a turnover that became a foul outside the arc on Allen Crabbe by Durant, then Klay made a pass to Green who was too close to him, and that turnover resulted in an and-one down the lane for C.J. McCollum on Thompson.
Draymond later got a steal, then Curry dribbled up, made a lefty wrap-around dribble, shifted to the right wing, then darted to the hoop from the right side for a high scoop off the board, giving the Dubs a 24-18 lead with 5:50 remaining:
[protected-iframe id=”527c58bd413c9cc0f2e00c614463eeaf-114320562-10106876″ info=”https://vine.co/v/5VeTYUX7p5Z/embed/simple” width=”300″ height=”300″ frameborder=”0″]https://platform.vine.co/static/scripts/embed.jsHowever, McCollum struck back with a long two early in the clock, then Steph’s touchdown pass attempt to Green sailed away and the Warriors’ lead dwindled.
After a timeout, McCollum missed, then Durant took Evan Turner down the right side for a layup, and-one.
On the next sequence, McCollum attacked the paint, only to get blocked by a helping KD. Noah Vonleh got the rebound, but Durant was there to swat the ball again, and the Warriors were off to the races.
Andre Iguodala pushed the ball up, found Durant on the right wing, and he buried another triple to give Golden State a 32-28 lead:
[protected-iframe id=”21417ecc61e64933f9ae5c74a301ad79-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FWorld_Wide_Wob%2Fstatus%2F816859096892588032″ width=”680″ height=”320″ frameborder=”0″]McCollum came back with a long two over Draymond, but Iguodala hit a catch-and-shoot from the left arc, McCollum missed again, and Steph made an up-fake on a switched Meyers Leonard, driving in to find Clark open in the right corner for another trey.
That put the Warriors up, 38-30, with 3:19 to go.
Vonleh and McCollum once again carried the Blazers on their backs, Vonleh scoring on another offensive put-back, and McCollum taking the switched Durant to the cup with 1.0 seconds left after Clark curled around for a nice jumper, which gave Green 5 assists in the first quarter.
Golden State held a 40-34 lead heading into the second stanza.
Q2: CJ Blazin’, KD To The Rescue
The Warriors pushed the lead to 47-36 as David West scored a layup, assisted by Iguodala, then Shaun Livingston hit a turnaround jumper on the right baseline, plus the harm, against Crabbe:
[protected-iframe id=”eba53a61b0eaa1c43b4d1c8101a2e7b9-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FNBA%2Fstatus%2F816861357840613376″ width=”680″ height=”320″ frameborder=”0″]But Shabazz Napier drilled a trey after a Warriors turnover, West fouled Crabbe from the beyond the arc, and with 5:47 remaining, the Blazers crept back to a 51-44 deficit.
Later, Curry found Pachulia inside for a nice spin and lefty scoop, Steph added a triple, and the Warriors spread the lead to 57-49.
But McCollum hit two threes sandwiched around a nifty lefty layup by Curry at the rim…
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Out of the timeout, KD missed on a move inside, McCollum corralled the long rebound in stride, and knifed into the lane for a layup.
Steph threw a bad swing pass stolen by Mason Plumlee, and CJ fed Crabbe again for three more from the left wing, forcing Kerr to call another timeout as Portland pushed ahead, 64-59.
Out of the timeout, Kerr got Durant free for a cut and a layup dished by Iguodala, but Evan Turner came right back with a three.
After KD drew a foul and hit two free throws, McCollum drained another trey, blocked Curry’s three-point attempt, and found Turner again, giving the Blazers their largest lead at 71-63, under a minute to go.
The Warriors had trouble getting a shot off and a baseline inbound from Steph to Durant got tied up, forcing a jump ball, but KD won the tip to Iguodala, who fed Durant on the right wing right back for a catch-and-splash, plus a touch foul on Turner.
With 30.5 seconds to go, Durant closed the Portland lead to 71-67.
McCollum missed a floater, and Zaza set a monster pick on Pat Connaughton, freeing Curry to go down the right side for a scoop:
[protected-iframe id=”152d422dbc3cf3ba5460c5f377a738ae-114320562-10106876″ info=”http://twitframe.com/show?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FNBA%2Fstatus%2F816864974488223744″ width=”550″ height=”250″ frameborder=”0″]Blazers head coach Terry Stotts called a timeout, but Plumlee couldn’t connect as the Warriors had the remaining Blazers smothered, and Golden State trailed, 71-69, going into halftime.
McCollum led all scorers with 26 points on 10-for-19 floor, to go along with 6 board.
Durant tallied 21 points, while Curry led the team in rebounds with 6, plus 5 assist and 16 points on 5-for-13 field. Draymond chipped in 6 assists.
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(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @_sanelc)
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