[tags NBA, Professional Basketball}

by Jerry Feitelberg

—
The Golden State Warriors were in Portland, Oregon to take on the Trail Blazers Sunday night.

The game was a tremendously exciting game that went down to the wire with the Warriors pulling out a victory by a score of 95-90 to start the season 3-0.

The first period was dominated by the Warriors and guards Klay Thompson and Steph Curry. Curry and Thompson each had eight points in the first six minutes of the game. The Warrior defense was strong as

Andrew Bogut blocked four shots early in the game and the Warriors held the Blazers to just 26% from the floor and led 30-22 at the end of the first 12 minutes of the game. The second period was very fast paced as the teams raced up and down the court trading baskets. The Warriors continued their good defense but they need another scorer to help out on offense. Thompson had 20 points while Steph pitched in with eleven. The Blazers leading scorers were Wesley Matthews with thirteen, LaMarcus Aldridge had nine and Robin Lopez added seven and the half ended with the Warriors leading 51-48.

The second half was as exciting as the first. Portland played great defensively and cooled off Klay Thompson. The Warriors defense was also good but Portland took a 68-62 lead with 1:12 left in the period. Portland controlled the boards all game to keep them in it but the game was tied at 68 at the of three periods of play. In the fourth quarter , guard Leandro Barbosa came up big to keep the Warriors in it and it didn’t look good for the Dubs when Portland took a 3 point lead with 4:03 left to go in the game. The W’s, however ,took a one point lead, 85-84, when Thompson knocked down a terrific jam shot over the Blazers’ seven foot center, Robin Lopez. The lead didn’t last long as the Blazers came back to go up by two with just two minutes left. The score was 90-88 at this point. The Warriors defense came up huge as Portland would not score again . The Warriors closed to one down 90-89 and Klay Thompson scored with just 8.7 left. The Warriors got the ball back after a replay showed that the ball went out of bounds off a Blazer player that gave Thompson the opportunity to make the play.

With 4.5 seconds left, The Warriors stole the ball as the Blazers attempted to put the ball in play and Steph Curry went to the line and he knocked down two free throws. Curry then stole the throw-in

and was fouled again and he made the shots to give the Warriors a 95-90 win.

Notes- The Warriors blocked seven shots tonight and had seventeen turnovers while Portland turned the ball over eighteen times. The 3-0 start is the first time since the 1994-95 season that the Warriors havestarted this well The 94-95 team went 5-0.

Klay Thompson ended the night with 29 points while Steph Curry had 21 and Andrew Bogut had a double-double. LaMarcus Aldridge had 26 points and 13 rebounds for Portland.

The Warriors meet the LA Clippers Wednesday night at the Oracle Arena at 7:30pm.

Jerry Feitelberg
jyf1938