The Golden State Warriors have defended their place at the top of the Western Conference with a fairly safe win against the Portland Trail Blazers. Stephen Curry took his breaks in the 118: 103 victory, but always ran really hot.
Golden State Warriors (17-2) – Portland Trail Blazers (10-10) 118:103 (BOXSCORE)
At the last appearance of the Warriors against Portland in San Francisco, Stephen Curry had set his career best of 62 points, this time the early favorite for the MVP Award wasn’t that hot, but got enough support. In the end there were still 32 points (12/25 FG, 6/15 threesome), 7 rebounds and 8 assists for the guard, Andrew Wiggins had 25 points (10/16 FG).
The entire starting five scored double digits, even Draymond Green (12, 8 boards, 12 assists, 3 blocks). At Portland, Damian Lillard (16, 5/15, 6 assists), who stayed without points for over 30 minutes and only scored again in the last three minutes, was particularly disappointing. CJ McCollum (16, 6/17) also stayed pale, instead the best blazer was backup guard Anfernee Simons (19).
The hosts were able to really break away for the first time shortly before the break. A 16-2 run in the last three minutes turned a 42:42 into a 58:44 break. The well-known combo of curry and green was on fire, but the Blazers couldn’t find any solutions and that caused frustration. Lillard picked up a technical foul, assistant coach Scott Brooks grumbled with the referees while going into the dressing room until he was ejected with two Ts.
Stephen Curry counters Anfernee Simons
Subsequently, the Warriors also dominated at will, the lead grew to 21 points, while Lillard hadn’t scored for what felt like an eternity. In addition, Norman Powell had to leave the field injured. Instead, it was Anfernee Simons who breathed new life into the Blazers with five transformed threesomes.
In the middle of the fourth quarter the guests were suddenly back to 8 points after a dunk by Larry Nance Jr. But then, then Curry was there again. Within 25 seconds, the chef netted two triples and caused drooping heads on the part of the blazers. Portland just couldn’t keep up, because in addition to Curry, Wiggins continued to score reliably and the Blazers’ comeback was prevented.
The Warriors won their sixth game in a row and thus remain the front runners in the Western Conference. On Sunday evening, the LA Clippers will continue at 9:30 p.m. before the two summit meetings with the Phoenix Suns.
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