Portland Trailblazers guard Norman Powell (24) looking to take a shot against Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Looney (left) on Fri Oct 15, 2021 in Portland (photo from oregonlive.com)

Warriors Finish Pre-Season Unbeaten 119-97

By Barbara Mason

Friday night the Golden State Warriors (5-0) took on the winless Portland Trail Blazers (0-4) in Portland. The Warriors were going for a perfect pre-season coming into this game. They have won with and without Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. They have had a great pre-season the Warriors defeating the Trailblazers 119-97 on Friday night to complete the pre season schedule.

The Trailblazers host the Sacramento Kings for their opener on Wed Oct 20th. The Kings also had a perfect pre season. The Blazers Damian Lillard did not play in this game citing rest as the reason and should be ready for the opener . After all it is the pre-season and you want your starters to be ready and rested when the regular season gets underway next week.

Despite a shaky defense, the Trail Blazers took a 27-17 lead as the first quarter came to an end. The Warriors had only shot 29% in the quarter.

We saw something that we rarely see from Golden State and that was two missed free throws from Curry in the second quarter. We also saw a tenacious Portland defense which was not at all expected.

As the quarter wore on the Portland defense begin to wear down under the constant Golden State offensive pressure. Curry had a great first half with 21 points, a Curry flurry if you will with four four three pointers. At the half Golden State had taken a 55-51 lead. Portland’s CJ McCollum finished the half with 18 points.

The Warriors completely turned the tables on the Trail Blazers in the third quarter. They went on a crazy run and led 98-77. Curry had 41 points in three quarters and would sit out the fourth quarter.

The Golden State bench sealed the blow-out in the fourth quarter 21-20. The Warrior bench finished off Portland with an incredible performance. Nemanja Bjelica, Damian Lee and Moses Moody all had great play off the bench. The Warriors had done something that they had never done and that was go undefeated in the pre-season.

Golden State opens up the regular season next Tuesday when the 2021- 2022 season gets underway. Golden State will be taking on the Los Angeles Lakers. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM.