OAKLAND — Two nights after the Denver Nuggets challenged the Warriors, the Portland Trail Blazers — sans Damian Lillard — briefly pushed Golden State up against a wall, too.
But in the end, the best team in the NBA rediscovered their flow in the second half to down the Trail Blazers 125-117.
C.J. McCollum scored 26 points in the first half, Golden State turned the ball over eight times and the “Millennials,” as Steve Kerr refers to his players, looked like they’d rather be on the couch watching Netflix.
No surprise: The Warriors flipped the momentum in the third quarter, tightening up their defensive rotations and forcing an array of turnovers. Andre Iguodala’s defensive octopus tentacles were everywhere and he played a total of 31 minutes, his most since Dec. 13. After 71 first half points, Portland scored just 21 in the third.
Steph Curry shook off a poor shooting first half to finish with 35 points on a 12/25 clip — nine more shots than anybody on the team. Curry and Kevin Durant specifically used pick-an-rolls in the fourth quarter to get going, an offensive play-call both superstars have said they wanted to see more of. It worked.
With Draymond Green in foul trouble, Durant carried the torch for the Warriors in that third quarter, scoring 30 total points on 9/16 shooting. Again, his consistency and efficiency could lead to an eventual MVP trophy when it’s all said and done in 2017. Durant emphatically swatted a shot in the second quarter and followed it up with gorgeous three-pointer in transition.
.@KDTrey5 getting it done on both ends of the floor! pic.twitter.com/OcqDb1jTv4
— NBA TV (@NBATV) January 5, 2017
In addition to McCollum who finished with 35 points, the Trail Blazers hung around with strong performances from Allen Crabbe 18 points and Mason Plumlee 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Green’s defense was phenomenal, again. He finished with 9 points, 11 assists and 7 rebounds. Klay Thompson was quiet on the offensive end (14 points, 1/7 from three) but had several drives to the basket to still impact the game.
The Warriors return home Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies.