Portland Comes Close, But Can't Handle the 41-7 Warriors
Portland’s impressive win streak ends, but put on encouraging game against top seeded Warriors.
Despite an excellent 20-2 run to end the 1st half, keeping pace in the 3rd & 4th quarters, and having a shot to tie or win the game with 5 seconds left, the Blazers were not able to pull of an incredible upset. The Warriors defeated Portland 113-111. Stephen Curry‘s absence due to a stomach flu had little effect on Golden State’s play.
Portland won the paint scoring battle, but greatly lost the free throw battle. While Portland shot better overall and grabbed more rebounds, Golden State had more assists, steals and blocks than Portland. Golden State jumped out to a heavy lead in the second quarter. They were able to keep the game at their pace due to excellent defense to fend off the Blazers.
After C.J. McCollum‘s 51,000 (and counting) re-tweeted diss at Chandler Parsons, McCollum backed up his words with a knock-out performance against Golden State. He dropped 28 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists while also going 3-3 from behind the arc in the fourth quarter. On the flip side, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson combined for 60 points. They picked up the scoring load usually carried by Curry and lead the Warriors to their 41st win of the seasons (best in the league.)
Disappointing performances by Meyers Leonard (2 points last three games), Allen Crabbe (8 points) and Al-Farouq Aminu (3-10 shooting, 7 points) hurt Portland. It in fact stalled an epic comeback. However, Evan Turner had a very impressive performance. He had 18 points, 6 dimes and 4 rebounds as well as having a +14 efficiency. Add in Damian Lillard‘s 19, and this team performance was very promising for the Blazers.
With Maurice Harkless back healthy, expect the Blazers to use this close game as momentum going forward. Their next game is against the struggling Hornets at home. It sets up a nice possibility for the Blazers to go 4-1 in their last 5 games.
More from Rip City Project
This article originally appeared on 
