(Photo by Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports Images)
One blink of an eye. One quarter.
That is all it took for the Golden State Warriors to pounce and thwart Portland’s chances of gaining a victory in the Bay. It was entertaining, but in the end, the Warriors proved too much, despite two of their rotation players being out due to injury.
The Portland Trail Blazers get overwhelmed by the Warriors 136-111 on Sunday night. The Blazers fall to 41-37, while the Warriors improve to 69-8.
With a victory against the Warriors already under their belt, it is hard not to go into these matches with a certain sense of optimism, no matter how much of an advantage the Warriors have. Andre Iguodala and Andrew Bogut would sit out due to injury, so it gave Portland some hope of potentially sneaking out of there on top.
But, a 32-point second quarter by Golden State who also held the Blazers to just 19 points in the same quarter, turned the tide of what was a competitive and a back-and-forth affair. Despite the mini-runs the Blazers attempted and despite the shots that Portland made, it was simply not enough. It was the other end of the court that continued to present problems, but is it a surprise?
On the night, the Warriors shot a blistering 57 percent from the field and 60 percent from swishing 18 of their 30 attempts from three. Stephen Curry collected half of them en route to his 39-point performance on 13-of-21 shooting.
Even without Bogut in the middle to clog the paint, the ball movement was quick and Portland did not have enough time to close out on plenty of Golden State’s shooters and, in the end, that is what hampered them.
A good defensive stand would end in a ridiculous three-pointer attempt that would find the net. Or, the Blazers could not corral the rebounds allowing the Warriors to gain another chance at a bucket. Against a team like Golden State, second chances will prove deadly. Furthermore, Golden State’s bench showed up once again as Leandro Barbosa scored 13 points off the bench as Brandon Rush and Shaun Livingston also combined for 17 on 7-of-8 shooting.
It was the second unit for Portland that, for once, was getting outplayed and losing leads rather than extending them, as the Blazers have become accustomed.
The Blazers took a six-point lead into the second quarter, but instantly cooled off as Golden State went small not playing Anderson Varejao or Festus Ezeli. That caused all kinds of problems for the Blazers as they shot just 27 percent from the field and could not buy a bucket. Offensively, Portland got some open looks, but saw a lot of their attempts go in and out, which was mentally debilitating in a game with no margin for error.
It just continued into the second half as the Warriors rode the massive wave of momentum and the Blazers, despite shooting 63 percent from the field in the third quarter and displaying an entertaining Damian Lillard versus Curry battle, could not get over the hump.
What ended up being the nail in the coffin was when Lillard exited the game with the Blazers only down five at the end of the third quarter. The Warriors rattled off a 12-5 run to end the quarter and promptly took care of business as the Blazers ran out of gas.
With Lillard the only player able to find consistent offense as he finished with a whopping 38 points on 13-of-27 shooting, 4-of-9 from three, the fatigue factor caught up with him and the rest of the Blazers followed suit.
The regular season is coming to a close with all of the remaining games being very winnable matchs. While Portland heads into a four games in five nights sequence, the Warriors were by far the most difficult game on the schedule.
It can be analyzed and statistics can be thrown around, but the fact of the matter is that the Blazers gave the Warriors a run for their money, they just stutter-stepped and that was all that was needed for the Warriors to take off.
Next up, the Blazers have a day off before taking on the Sacramento Kings on the road at 7:00 p.m. PST.
Stay tuned!