Trail Blazers at Warriors
The Golden State Warriors just keep rolling along, racking up wins and growing more comfortable with each other each game. The Portland Trail Blazers, who visit the Warriors on Wednesday, are enduring a much more difficult campaign but are beginning to put things together on the defensive end.
The Trail Blazers will need all the defense they can muster to stop Golden State, which leads the league in scoring average (117.3) and assists (31.2) and shot 52.6 percent from the floor in a 127-119 win over Denver on Monday. The Warriors thrive on ball movement, and Kevin Durant (19 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists in a 108-99 win over Dallas on Friday) and Draymond Green (15 points, 13 assists and 10 boards against the Nuggets) became the first set of teammates in franchise history to post triple-doubles in back-to-back games - and neither one plays point guard. Portland is missing its point guard in Damian Lillard, who sat out the last four games with a sprained ankle and is doubtful for Wednesday. The Blazers are compensating for the loss by turning up the pressure on the defensive end picked up wins in two of the last three games while holding the opposition under 90 points in each of the victories.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, KGW (Portland), CSN Bay Area (Golden State)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (15-21): Portland's defense has not had much success stopping the Warriors this season, suffering a 127-104 loss at home on Nov. 1 before going to Golden State on Dec. 17 and getting smashed 135-90. The Blazers changed things up on the defensive end when Lillard went down and are trapping more on pick-and-rolls and allowing the big men more movement. "It's a defense that I think excites us," center Mason Plumlee told the Oregonian. "It plays to our strength. We have a lot of long, active, quick-footed guys, especially when you look at Chief (Al-Farouq Aminu), Moe (Harkless), Noah (Vonleh). We have a lot of length."
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (30-5): Golden State has plenty of length as well and is not only the best offensive team in the league but is a top defensive unit as well, ranking in the top three in the league in defensive field-goal percentage (43 percent) and setting the pace in the NBA by holding opponents to 32.2 percent from beyond the arc. Green is the leader of that defense and was unhappy with his team's effort after the Warriors allowed 60 points in the paint against the Nuggets. "It’s game, what, 34? 35? In the beginning of January? We don’t expect everybody to be in playoff form, have playoff intensity," Green told reporters, according to the Bay Area News Group. "That’s physically impossible. But the attention to detail has to be there. There were some things where we can be more on a string with each other. We were kind of disconnected."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Warriors SG Patrick McCaw (illness) sat out the last two games and is day-to-day.
2. Blazers SG C.J. McCollum is averaging 30.3 points in the last four games.
3. Golden State, which beat Portland in five games in the playoffs last spring, won the last four regular-season meetings.