PREVIEW: Back Home vs Portland Trail Blazers (51-27), Warriors (63-15) Hope To Avoid 3 Losses In A Row

Portland Trail Blazers (51-27) at Golden State Warriors (63-15)

Tip-off: Thursday, April 9th, 2015 – 5:00PM PDT

Location: Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA

TV: TNT | Radio: KNBR 1050 AM

Livetweet: @LetsGoWarriors #LetsGoWarriorsLive

Projected Starting Lineups:

Warriors

PG: Stephen Curry (23.6 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 7.7 APG)

SG: Klay Thompson (21.3 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 2.9 APG)

SF: Harrison Barnes (10.1 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 1.4 APG)

PF: Draymond Green (11.8 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 3.7 APG)

C: Andrew Bogut (6.3 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 2.7 APG)

Head Coach: Steve Kerr (63-15, .808)

Trail Blazers

PG: Damian Lillard (21.1 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 6.2 APG)

SG: Arron Afflalo (10.7 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 1.2 APG)

SF: Nic Batum (9.6 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 4.8 APG)

PF: LaMarcus Aldridge (23.4 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 1.7 APG)

C: Robin Lopez (9.6 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 0.9 APG)

Head Coach: Terry Stotts (253-272, .482)

Last Times Out

LAST WARRIORS GAME: On Tuesday, 4/7/2015, the Pelicans defeated the Warriors, 103-100, as Curry missed a potential game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer.

LAST TRAIL BLAZERS GAME: On Wednesday, 4/8/2015, the Trail Blazers defeated the Timberwolves, 116-91, in Portland, as the majority of the Blazers’ starters rested in the 4th quarter.

LAST WARRIORS-BLAZERS MATCHUP: On 3/24/2015, Golden State defeated Portland, 122-108, in impressive fashion, clinching the Pacific Division in the process.

LAST WARRIORS-BLAZERS MATCHUP AT ORACLE: On 1/26/2014, Golden State defeated Portland, 103-88, as Curry netted 38 points.

Game Notes

• “Leandro Barbosa will not play due to a sore Achilles, per Kerr in the pre-game presser.” — LetsGoWarriors

• “Unsolicited, both Stephen Curry and Draymond Green mentioned the Warriors haven’t lost three in a row all season. That’s clearly their focus.” — Rusty Simmons, San Francisco Chronicle

• “Portland (51-27) has turned things around following a season-high five-game losing streak by winning seven of nine.
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  LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and 13 rebounds before sitting out the fourth quarter Wednesday, while Robin Lopez added 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting in a 116-91 home victory over West-worst Minnesota.
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  While the Blazers have secured a top-four playoff seed as Northwest champs, they’re 1 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Clippers and San Antonio in the race for home-court advantage in the first round.
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  ‘We know that the more games we win we give ourselves a better chance of having home court, so we wanted to come out and attack the game,’ said guard Damian Lillard, who had 17 points.
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  Aldridge and Nicolas Batum did not play due to injury March 24 when Lillard had 29 points in a 122-108 home loss to the Warriors, who clinched their first division title in 39 years.
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  Aldridge finished with 26 points and 13 boards in a 95-90 loss at Portland in the first meeting Nov. 2. The All-Star forward has put up 24.4 points and 14.4 rebounds per game in his last five matchups.” — Taylor Bechtold, AP/STATS