warriors vs trail blazers recap (Photo: CSN Northwest)
ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — The Grammys were on last night, so Under Armour gave both Stephen Curry and Kent Bazemore of the Golden State Warriors (27-18) gold colorways of their shoes.
While Bazemore didn’t play until the game was decided in the waning moments, Curry didn’t disappoint as one of the five starters that coach Mark Jackson had called out after the poor defensive performance on Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Monte Poole of CSN Bay Area with the summary:
Curry finished with 38 points and eight assists, leading four Warriors who scored in double figures. David Lee added 17 points and 12 rebounds, Andre Iguodala 12 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, while Klay Thompson submitted 17 points and four assists.
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The Warriors (27-18) ended a three game home losing streak and a stretch during which they had lost five of seven games.
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Though the Warriors led by as much as 22 points, Portland made a late comeback that finally was thwarted by none other than Curry, who drained a corner 3-pointer for a 99-86 lead with 1:49 remaining.
Instead of giving up 30-plus points in the first quarter, the starters and initial bench unit held “#WarriorsGround” and delivered a 28-22 lead after the opening frame. The good defense against one of the best offenses in the NBA in the Portland Trail Blazers (33-12) would continue.
Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle:
They limited Portland to 33.7 percent shooting – becoming the first team to hold the Blazers to less than 40 percent all season and moving to 14-3 when holding an opponent under that mark. The Warriors held the league’s highest-scoring team to a season low in points and moved to 20-2 when yielding fewer than 100 points.
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Wesley Matthews was the lone Portland starter to reach his season’s scoring average, and probable All-Stars LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard combined to miss 23 of their 30 shots.
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Four Warriors scored in double figures, but Curry did most of the notable work. Wearing glitzy gold shoes to commemorate the Grammys, the Warriors’ point guard put on quite a show: 38 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in 35 minutes.
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“Coming into the game, we knew he liked to put up those threes off pick-and-rolls, make those flashy passes and just be real crafty,” said Lillard, who was playing his third professional game in his hometown. “He played that game tonight. We contested the shots. He just made them – even the deep, contested shots.”
Curry had finished the first quarter with 11 points and 6 assists.
Poole with more:
The Warriors (27-18) shot only 41.8 percent from the field, won anyway. They shot fewer free throws, won anyway. They were outrebounded, won anyway.
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That’s what can happen when you play terrific defensive and commit only nine turnovers.
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“We held an elite team to 33 percent (shooting) and their lowest scoring output of the year, (which) says a lot about our defense,” Jackson said.
Adam Lauridsen of the San Jose Mercury News noticed a key adjustment to Jackson’s rotation:
Andrew Bogut received his usual run during the first 6 minutes of the quarter and helped force the Blazers to the perimeter. But when it came time to sub Bogut, Jackson didn’t go to his usual sixth man Harrison Barnes or typical big-man sub Marreese Speights — he inserted Draymond Green.
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With Bogut out, the Blazers instinctively started to attack the basket. But Green, Iguodala and the rest of the Warriors were ready. Green repeatedly used his quickness to cut-off lanes to the basket and block shots. Iguodala and Curry patrolled the passing lanes to pick-off the re-set passes coming from frustrated penetration attempts. Off steals and Green-inhaled defensive rebounds, the Warriors picked up the pace offensively and found open-court looks. When the dust settled by the end of the quarter, the Warriors had held the Blazers to a 12-point quarter on 16% shooting and forced 7 turnovers.
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It’s unclear why Jackson opted to substitute Green for Bogut. There could have been an injury motivation, with Bogut spending the rest of the second half stretching on the floor near the Warriors’ bench. The substitution could have been intended as a message to Speights, who had a miserable second-quarter run and didn’t see action again until late in the fourth when the game was decided.
Aldridge was shut down. Here’s Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group:
LaMarcus Aldridge entered the game leading the Trail Blazers averaging 24.6 points per game, and he finished with 10 on 2-for-14 shooting while going up against David Lee, Andrew Bogut and substitute Draymond Green.
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After Aldridge committed an offensive foul while Bogut defended him, the two were whistled for a double technical foul. Aldridge, in frustration, had tossed the ball at Bogut.
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“I just missed shots,” Aldridge said, citing his struggles with the Warriors’ guards helping on defense.
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“What I like is that we paid attention to detail and didn’t have any game plan breakdowns,” Jackson said. “We battled, we competed, and we made multiple effort plays, and we continued that all night long.”
The Warriors’ bench held up their end of the bargain as well, per Sarah Todd of SFBay.ca:
“I think Jordan Crawford played his best game. … I thought the second unit guys did a great job, they did a good job of coming in and holding the fort down and even in some cases separating us.”
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As the starters subbed back into the game, the Warriors’ lead dwindled to single digits with just 2:56 to go. Curry took matters into his hands, scoring five consecutive points. He added eight assists and seven rebounds in his 300th career game.
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Draymond Green — who added a huge defensive spark — received a standing ovation when he fouled out of the game with 6:58 left in regulation.
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Lee said that the under-the-weather Green continues to do everything asked of him:
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“Draymond is a guy that is going to do all the little things. They don’t always show up on the stat sheet but he is a real glue guy for us.”
Lately, Curry has had a string of eleven games that exceeds the numerical output of the first eleven games of Jeremy Lin‘s #Linsanity run, even by halftime of last night’s game:
Um…guys #Linsanity run of 11 games (Nets to before Heat stopped him cold) = 263 pts, 91 assists. Steph's last 11: 273 pts, 92 assists!…
— Poor Man's Commish (@poormanscommish) January 27, 2014
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…btw Steph's numbers in comparison to #Linsanity in my last tweet. We're including his current 23-and-6 as the 11th game! #halftime
— Poor Man's Commish (@poormanscommish) January 27, 2014
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It’s probably not getting much attention because of the “gold” standard Curry has established for himself already.
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