The Golden State Warriors Jordan Poole (left) and Stephen Curry share the thrill of a basket at the Chase Center in San Francisco against the Portland Trailblazer (AP News photo)

Warriors Win 118-103 Despite Portland’s Fourth Quarter Bid

By Barbara Mason

Every starter in the Golden State Warriors line-up had double digits against the Portland Trailblazers handing Golden State the 118-103 win. The bench was great chipping in 23 points handing the Trail Blazers yet another road loss.

Friday night the Warriors (17-2) tried to extend their nine game winning streak as they took on the Trail Blazers (10-10). The Warriors have not only won nine games in a row but all of them were by double digits.

After the rough start against the Sixers on Wednesday night, falling behind by nineteen points is not something that Head Coach Steve Kerr wants to see again anytime soon. Golden State was sluggish through the first half of that game and so tonight the team needs to start fast and finish the same way.

While it is impressive how the Warriors can dispose of teams after trailing by double digits it is not what any coach wants to see. Playing from behind the eight ball is not at all a comfortable position that any team wants to experience and the Warriors are doing it often.

The Warriors will be playing shorthanded but with the depth on this team it does not present any problems. Tonight Damion Lee, Andre Iguodala, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody will not be playing in the game. Lee and Iguodala are out with injury and Kuminga and Moody will be taking the court in Santa Cruz.

The Trail Blazers have lost 18 of their last 24 games. They do play fast though and it will be tough to slow this team down. Damien Lilliard loves to play in the Bay Area being a native and actually averages 29 points per game so the Warriors will have to watch out for him. Portland lost their last game to the Sacramento Kings 125-121. The Warriors are heavily favored in this game.

Both teams had a fast start in the first quarter with Golden State taking a five point lead in the early minutes. The Warriors cooled a bit mid-way through the quarter but picked it up as the first quarter came to an end with Golden State leading by a single point 27-26.

The second quarter was very even and the teams were tied at 42 with under three minutes left in the half. Those final three minutes hailed the return of the three-pointer as Curry and Poole were able to score from downtown giving Golden State a 58-44 lead going into the third quarter.

The Warriors had done a great job containing Damien Lillard who had 8 points in the half. They had also scored 17 points off Portland turnovers. All five starters had scored in the double digits in this game extending their lead to 91-70 after three.

Portland really got on track in the fourth quarter and trimmed the Warrior 21 point lead to ten. Golden State was not finished yet and had to really work for this win. They came on strong in the final minutes of the game finishing on top.

Stephen Curry finished with 32 points followed by Andrew Wiggins with 25 points. The Warriors did a great job on Lilliard who had 16 points in this game. The high score for the Trail Blazers was off the bench—Anfernee Simons finished with 19 points.

Golden State will now travel down to the Southland Sunday to take on the Clippers in an afternoon game. They will be going for seven wins in a row. Tipoff is scheduled for 12:30 PM.