by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Draymond Green knows whose top notch as he celebrates after a score on the Portland Trailblazers in pre season action on Friday night at Oracle Arena in Oakland

Oakland- The Portland Trail Blazer played very well in the early going of the final preseason game before the start of the regular season. The Blazers, behind the play of Damian Lillard and C.J.McCollum led 24-9 about halfway through the first period. The Warriors, however, started to play defense and Steph Curry got hot and the Warriors were able to come from behind the defeat the Blazers 107-96.

Curry scored fourteen in the first period and twenty-eight in the half. The Warriors led by just a single point 57-56 at the end of the first twenty-four minutes of play. The Dubs, behind Kevin Durant, outscored Portland 33-16 in the third period.  Durant was on fire. He scored fourteen points in the period and tallied twenty-eight for the game. He also had seven rebounds. The Blazers made a run in the fourth period, but it was their bench against the Warriors bench.  They scored twenty-four and held the Dubs to seventeen. Ian Clark, coming off the bench, scored seventeen points in just seventeen minutes of play.

Steph Curry scored thirty-five and Klay Thompson was held to nine. Draymond Green had eleven rebounds. The Dubs outrebounded the Blazers 51-45.

The Dubs offense was terrific once they got untracked and the defense was superb. After the game, Kevin Durant said’ Steph had it going early on.” He also remarked the he “can’t wait for the start of the season.”  Coach Steve Kerr noted that the Blazers are “one of the hardest teams to guard.  (they are) explosive and space you out and we weren’t quite ready” at the start of the game. He also said this about Draymond Green”(he was) all over the place defensively.” Kerr praised Ian Clark this way ” really like him, and he will play a big role for us this year.”

The Dubs went 6-1 in the preseason. However, those games do not count. The season opens Tuesday night at the Oracle Arena. The Warriors will face the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs, coached by Greg Popovich, are always tough. Tim Duncan has retired, but they still have Kawhi Leonard, LaMarcus Aldredge, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. They may be a little older, but they know how to win. Game time will be at 7:30 pm.