Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors needed something to get them on track to snap a four-game losing streak. The last time the Warriors lost four in a row was in the 2012-13 season when Mark Jackson coached them. The Warriors’ offense had been sluggish the previous four games, and they were without two All-Stars Steph Curry and Draymond Green. Steph Curry did not have a good day after Thanksgiving. On his way into Oakland, Curry’s car was involved in an accident as the car in front of him spun out and stuck his vehicle in the front. Curry was then hit by a second car in the rear. Thankfully, Curry was not injured in the accident and was in attendance to watch his team rout the Portland Trail Blazers 125-97 at Oracle Arena on Friday night.

Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson paced the Warriors’ offense with 32 and 31 points, respectively. The Warriors’ defense held the dynamic Portland backcourt duo of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum to 42 points. The Warriors looked like team the team that had won three championships in the last four years. They ran, they played defense, and they made three-point shots to sent the Blazers down to defeat. They found their mojo in the second quarter and kept it going all the way through the game.

The Warriors fell behind early once more. The Warriors came close to grabbing the lead, but Portland held them off, and they finished the first half with the lead 27-24. The Warriors vaunted defense finally got untracked in the second quarter as the held the Blazers to just 27 points while the offense put 35 points on the board to finish the first half with the lead 59-44. Durant scored 19 points in the first 24 minutes of play. He rebounded, he passed off to teammates that were open for shots, and he blocked shots. Thompson had 14, Quinn Cook 6, Jonas Jerebko 6, and Damion Lee 5.

Portland played better in the third quarter as they tallied 29. The Warriors answered the challenge as they scored 33 to finish the quarter with a 19-point lead 93-73. Thompson and Durant showed the Blazers the reason that they are perennial All-Stars as they led the way for Golden State.

The Warriors’ offense continued to percolate in the fourth quarter as they outscored Portland 33-24 to finish the game 125-97. Quinn Cook knocked down a couple of threes to ice the win for Golden State.

Game Notes and Stats: It was the second time ever that Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant scored over 30 points in the game. The Warriors’ defense held McCollum and Lillard to 42 points.

The Blazers’ big center Jusuf Nurkic added 22. Al-Farouq Aminu had 12, and Meyers Leonard had eight off the bench.

Quinn Cook kicked in with 19, and he made five threes. The Warriors’ bench came to life as they tallied 37 and helped the Warriors blow out the Blazers.

With the win, The Warriors improved to 13-7 while Portland dropped to 12-7.

Up Next: The Warriors play the rapidly improving Sacramento Kings Saturday night at Oracle Arena. The Kings are 10-8 so far this year. The game will start at 5:30 pm PT.