Photo credit: @mercnews

By: Ana Kieu

OAKLAND, Calif. — It wasn’t easy, but the Golden State Warriors ended up defeating the Portland Trail Blazers 111-104 at Oracle Arena Monday night.

The Warriors entered the matchup vs. the Trail Blazers in second place of the Western Conference, trailing the first-place Houston Rockets. Meanwhile, the Blazers were in sixth place in the conference.

After playing their last four games in their red “statement” jerseys, the Blazers sported their black “icon” jerseys tonight. The Blazers were just fine early in the game as they scored four consecutive points–all from Evan Turner’s dunks, but the Blazers barely outscored the Dubs by one point (28-27) at the end of the first quarter.

However, the Dubs went on a 10-2 run to grab a 39-32 lead with 7:48 left in the first half. Still, the Blazers said it was really difficult to stop Damian Lillard, a Oakland, Calif., native. Lillard led all scorers with 19 points at the half.

Despite the Lillard show, the Dubs led the Blazers 60-47 at the half.

The Blazers got off to a great start as they shot 100% from the free-throw line for a bit and even went on a 17-4 run to cut the deficit to 11, but the Dubs started cooking in the kitchen late in the third quarter. The Dubs led the Blazers 93-75 at the end of the third quarter.

The Dubs also received some bad news as Nick Young left the game with the concussion and didn’t return.

Klay Thompson did his thing, and Kevin Durant (19,712 points) passed John Stockton (19,711 points) for 44th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Thompson also closed out the game with a couple of three-pointers, and the Dubs beat the Blazers 111-104 at home.

The Dubs’ final stats are embedded below.

Notes
Warriors’ injury report: Draymond Green (right shoulder soreness) is probable. Patrick McCaw (nose contusion/concussion) is questionable. Zaza Pachulia (left shoulder soreness) is doubtful. Stephen Curry (sprained right ankle) is out.

Blazers’ injury update: Maurice Harkless (left quad) downgraded to OUT for tonight’s game. Jusuf Nurkić (right ankle) is also out.

Up Next
The Dubs host the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, December 14 at 7:30 pm PST.

The Blazers embark on a four-game road trip. The first game will be at American Airlines Center vs. the Miami Heat on Wednesday, December 13 at 7:30 pm EST.