Jordan Poole took on his defender, Jerami Grant, in semi-transition. He dribbled hard to his left, then pumped the brakes like an Formula 1 race car. His step-back 3 to his left splashed through and gave the Warriors a four-point lead with 5:49 left.
The Warriors wouldn’t score again for the next four minutes and three seconds. Draymond Green passed up two layups and his teammates clanked 3 after 3 as Portland went on a 15-5 closing run.
Golden State, in its second game since Stephen Curry injured his knee, failed to close out the Blazers in Portland. The four-minute drought made a late full-court press the Warriors’ only chance, and it nearly created magic.
But in the end, the aggressors — not the sharpshooters — triumphed.
The Warriors (28-27) more than doubled Portland’s production from deep (21 to eight), but got tripled up at the foul line and dominated in the paint. The Blazers sank 31 free throws compared to nine from the Warriors and outscored GSW 66 to 42 in the lane.
The Warriors went the entire third quarter without attempting a foul shot, a result of both solid Portland defense and a more perimeter-oriented offense run through Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole.
More lackluster late-game execution — a common theme of this season — was just the symptom of an imbalanced game.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ 125-122 loss.
Klay stays hot
Each of Klay Thompson’s first nine shots came from behind the arc. He drained five of them.
A one-two punch early in the second quarter forced Portland to call a timeout. The first in the sequence came when Thompson was the ball-handler in a pick-and-roll, and he pulled up in the middle of Portland’s switch. The next, on GSW’s next trip, was more of a Klay Classic: fading to his left at the top of the key as he curled off a screen.
At halftime, Thompson hit six of his 12 attempts from 3, giving him 18 triples in a six-quarter bender.
But then Thompson missed four straight triples in the second half. Luckily for the Warriors, Poole was there to pick him up in a major way…until the last five minutes.
Thompson racked up 31 points on 7-for-19 shooting from deep. Poole paced the Warriors with 38 (7 of 12 from 3).
Another trade deadline deal makes the bottom half of the West more interesting
Shortly after warming up, Josh Hart learned that he became the latest trade deadline casualty. Portland sent him to the New York Knicks right before tipoff in exchange for a future first round pick and young, unproven wing Cam Reddish.
Losing Hart, a reliable 3-and-D wing, may signal Portland giving up on the playoffs this year. But perhaps their front office just wanted to force Chauncey Billups to play rookie Shaedon Sharpe more minutes.
Sharpe, who’s averaging 19.9 minutes per game this year, was Portland’s first sub off the bench Wednesday. Without Hart, the Blazers will apparently lean on the 6-foot-6 rookie more.
The seventh overall pick got up for a highlight-reel alley-oop from Damian Lillard, then also muscled in for a putback on his own miss inside. He’s long, quick and bouncy (it’s a shame he dropped out of the upcoming Dunk Contest).
Sharpe also elevated for another alley-oop along the baseline late in the third quarter in which he nearly hit his head on the rim.
The Hart trade is the second of the day that shook up the bottom of the West, with all four teams involved — Minnesota, Los Angeles, Utah and Portland — competing for a playoff spot. Each are within a handful of games of Golden State. The Mavericks, too, are fighting for a playoff berth and just added Kyrie Irving.
But for the Blazers, the trade opens up minutes for Sharpe. The 19-year-old clearly has talent, and now he’ll get the opportunity to prove if he’s ready or not as a rookie. He finished with 13 points and seven rebounds in 22 points. He was a game-high +11.
Is this the last we see of Wiseman and Moody?
Neither James Wismeman nor Moses Moody touched the court against the Blazers. Traditionally, if a player’s seriously on the trading block, they probably wouldn’t play the night before the deadline. Each have been out of the rotation, so it’s quite possible their DNPs are unrelated.
But Golden State’s bench rotation is getting cemented more and more every game, with Donte DiVincenzo ascending, JaMychal Green playing better, and Jonathan Kuminga becoming a two-way weapon. Ty Jerome is a reliable point guard insurance. That’s along with either Kevon Looney or Jordan Poole, depending on which starting five Steve Kerr decides to go with.
So, with Wiseman and Moody on the outside looking in, and factoring in Golden State’s gargantuan tax bill, could the Warriors look to move one or both for someone who might be able to contribute to the rotation and may even ease the books?
Bob Myers will have an answer for everyone by noon tomorrow.