Trail Blazers at Warriors
The Golden State Warriors barely showed up to play on Christmas Day against the Los Angeles Lakers and finding a consistent level of effort is important for a team going after its third straight NBA championship. The Warriors will try to find their way back into the win column when they host the struggling Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday.
Golden State shot 40.9 percent from the floor and allowed the Lakers to go off at 55.3 percent in the 127-101 setback on Tuesday and were blown out despite Los Angeles star LeBron James leaving the game in the third quarter with a groin injury. "This loss obviously is a smack in the face, and we have to respond to it," Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters. "That's kind of the name of the game in this league. We need to come in tomorrow, watch the tape, get some work in and get back at it." Portland suffered through its own embarrassing performance on national TV Tuesday while dropping a 117-96 decision at Utah - its second loss to the Jazz in a span of five days. "It's difficult on the road," Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts told reporters. "We have to sustain, whether it's the mental intensity, effort, or just weathering the storm on the road. Obviously, I thought we played better (than on Friday when they lost by 30 to the Jazz). They made a very similar game four days ago. We had them kind of in striking distance and they went on a 9-0 run that widened the gap and then the game wasn't manageable anymore."
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, NBCS Northwest (Portland), NBCS Bay Area (Golden State)
ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (19-15): Portland, which will host Golden State in the back half of the home-and-home set on Saturday, won its last four against non-Jazz opponents but could not defend the 3-point line in Utah. "They didn't make a three in the first quarter, and then they shot 60-some percent from three in the second through fourth," Stotts told reporters. "Unfortunately, that was a big part of it. But I'll say offensively I think we shot under 40 percent almost every quarter. We had a hard time finishing at the rim. We had a hard time finishing in the paint, so it was a struggle on both ends." Shooting guard CJ McCollum went 4-of-14 from the floor in the loss and is 2-of-17 from 3-point range in the last four contests.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (23-12): One issue for Golden State is the continued shooting slump of guard Klay Thompson, who is 8-of-39 from 3-point range over the last seven games and is shooting 33.7 percent from beyond the arc on the season. "I think it will turn around. I know it will turn around," Kerr told reporters of Thompson. "This game is funny, life's funny. Things go on, things happen. And you just have to find your way out of the woods. Our job as a staff is to help our team do that when we're in a rut, and it's to help individual players as well. As I said, I have no doubt that Klay will find his way, but he's in a rut right now. I think that's obvious. But it'll get better." Thompson finished with five points on 2-of-7 shooting in 33 minutes on Tuesday - the first time this season he failed to score in double figures.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Warriors SF Andre Iguodala scored a season-high 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting Tuesday.
2. Trail Blazers PG Damian Lillard scored 20 or more points in 10 of 12 games this month.
3. Golden State ripped Portland 125-97 at home on Nov. 23 as Thompson scored 31 points on 12-of-21 shooting.