The Golden State Warriors defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 100-92 on Thursday night, furthering their late-season push for better seeding in the Western Conference play-in tournament. With the victory, the Warriors still control their own destiny for the nine-seed and will have a chance to secure the eighth seed as well.
The Dubs opted to rest Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, who are dealing with minor knee ailments, on the first half of a back-to-back, making the bet that Steph Curry and the rest of the roster could get past a tanking Blazers team. While it was closer than they would have liked, Golden State got the job done and now will have two of their most important players rested for their game on Friday night against the Pelicans.
It was tough sledding for the Warriors in large part because Curry was cold for the majority of the game. The megastar led the Warriors with 22 points, 8 assists, and 7 rebounds, but did the bulk of his damage in the fourth quarter and still finished shooting just 8-for-22 from the field.
With Curry far from dialed in and Green receiving the night off, Jonathan Kuminga capitalized on his starter’s minutes to score 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting. The Dubs myriad of other youngsters all had positive contributions as well. Trayce Jackson-Davis filled the box score with 10 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 4 blocks. Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody each provided a spark off the bench as well.
However, it was another veteran who delivered the most unexpected performance. Kevon Looney had his best performance of the season in nearly 21 minutes of action. The Warriors big man recorded 9 points, 11 rebounds, 2 steals, and 4 blocks in his limited action. While Looney has fallen out of the rotation this season, minutes like that would justify a return to a more prominent role.
Neither team led by more than five points for the vast majority of the game. In a tightly-contested defensive matchup, it seemed like the Warriors would be left behind in the fourth quarter as Curry seemed to be shut down and the Blazers built a six-point lead with nine minutes left in regulation.
Then, Curry came alive, knocking down a couple pivotal shots alongside setting up his teammates for easy buckets. On the other end, the Dubs locked down and propelled themselves to a 16-1 run.
With a 97-90 lead in the final two minutes, Podziemski secured an offensive rebound that led to a made three by Chris Paul that gave the Warriors the first double-digit lead of the contest and put the game away.