On Wednesday night, the Golden State Warriors played the first game of their back-to-back road trip against the Portland Trail Blazers. Stephen Curry made his presence felt immediately, storming out the gate with 23 points on the 9/15 shooting in the first half. Even with Curry having the hot hand early, it wasn't enough to hold off Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers.
“Competitive basketball is great its what we live for minus the fans like its been all year in most arenas it felt like a playoffs type atmosphere, and playoffs type intensity, and we obviously been in those type of games with Portland over the years against dame and surrounding cast, so its always fun its never fun to lose, but those type of back and forths is what the NBA's about,” Curry told ClutchPoints.
The Warriors defense made things challenging for Damian Lillard, sending double teams and traps throughout the entire night. Making a player of his caliber uncomfortable is a hard thing to do and virtually impossible to do with one man. It was a total team effort to slow the Trail Blazers superstar down, but at the six-minute mark of the fourth quarter, with the Warriors holding on to a 91-89 lead, it was time to see which star would shine brightest.
After trading baskets for the next five minutes, Lillard made a three-point bomb to give the Blazers a two-point lead with 13.7 seconds left on the clock. In the postgame interview, he spoke about his thoughts on that play.
“I'm going to make him react to a move, then raise up,” said Lillard.
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Warriors drew up a play for Curry, but he couldn't get open for a good look, so he found Draymond Green, who drove to the basket for a layup, but Damian Lillard drew a charging call canceling the made basket. Steve Kerr challenged the play, but the call on the court stood, which caught Golden State by surprise.
“We all have our interpretations of the play, and obviously it was close, and we felt like it was movement after Draymond took off, and was pretty confident going into the review that we were going to get it overturned,” Curry told the media.
It's just one game, but it's a game that the Dubs wanted desperately. The Warriors didn't leave Portland in the fashion they would have liked, and they aren't making any excuses as they travel and refocus to play the Phoenix Suns tomorrow. Draymond Green briefly spoke with the media about the loss before jumping on the team bus.
“I think we had several chances to win the game. I think Steph missed some shots he would love to have back, and I missed a point-blank tip-in and threw it over the rim. That would have put us up. I think six. It is what it is. We had our chances.”
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