Screen capture courtesy of the NBA/YouTube.
The Golden State Warriors blitzed and ultimately crushed the Portland Trail Blazers in a game that somehow wasn’t as close as its 128-103 final score would indicate.
With Kevin Durant returning from a calf injury and Stephen Curry in prime form (37 points on 12-20 shooting, 7-11 from deep), the Warriors jumped out to a 45-22 lead after the first quarter.
Damian Lillard, on the path to 34 points on 12-24 shooting, was the only Portland player to fight back. C.J. McCollum went 2-12 for 6 points, Evan Turner was 2-7 for 7 points, and spot-starter Meyers Leonard was utterly horrid in his scoreless 10 minutes. Leonard got the nod since Jusuf Nurkic was out with a leg injury.
As Curry shined, other Golden State players excelled as well. Draymond Green scored 21 points and surprisingly went 5-8 on threes. Klay Thompson had 18 and was 3-5 from the three-line.
Durant made both of his three-point attempts and also had two emphatic dunks for his 10 points. One of the dunks featured a wicked crossover at the three-point line that opened the lane for his jam. It was Durant’s physical comfort, not his scoring total, that must be having the Warriors feeling excellent.
David West made an impact off the bench with 12 points in 16 minutes. Javale McGee didn’t have quite the same showing that he’s had in previous games against Portland, however, he did throw down one spectacular and-1 dunk following a Green lob.
This series went about as expected. Portland fought hard throughout and received largely strong (albeit somewhat inconsistent) production from Lillard and McCollum. However, no one aside from these two guards contributed on a meaningful level.
For the Warriors, we’re talking about an exceptional offensive and defensive team who rarely receives enough credit for its defensive greatness. The team’s performance on that side of the ball helped them win two games without Durant and with the Splash Brothers struggling. When Durant is in the fold and Curry/Thompson are drilling from deep, it’s nearly impossible to beat the Warriors.
Stay tuned for my future recaps as I’ll be covering the Warriors when they take on either the Los Angeles Clippers or Utah Jazz.
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