© Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports
Warriors fans have faced an unexpected problem in recent years. After winning two NBA Championships in three years, averaging 69 wins a season over that short span, watching NBA’s defending champions can get boring.
Like, real, real boring.
Most nights during the 2017-18 campaign the Warriors enter as double-digit favorites and talent their way to a win against an inferior opponent.
That was not the case Friday night when the Dubs traveled to Portland to play the scorching-hot Trail Blazers. The last time these two teams played, a day before the start of the NBA’s All-Star break, the Trail Blazers hung 40 points on the Warriors in a win in Oakland. Since that day, neither team had lost.
A bit more spice was added to the matchup with the absence of five Warrior regulars. Stephen Curry, Andre Iguodala, David West, Jordan Bell and Patrick McCaw all missed the game with various aliments.
At the end of the night the collectively hot hands of the Trail Blazers were too much for the Warriors who lost 125-108 in Portland, a night after “emptying the clip” against the San Antonio Spurs.
The rebounding difference between the two teams was noticeable form the tip. Ed Davis gave Golden State fits all night, fighting off bigs and smalls on his way to 15 rebounds in only 26 minutes.
At one point in the second quarter, the Trail Blazers had out-rebounded the champs 19-3.
Ninteen. to. three.
The Warriors had a low turnover night (10), but the rebounds were part of the reason the Blazers took 13 more shots on the night.
With Stephen Curry not on the trip, there were plenty of extra shots to go around on the offensive side of the ball. Kevin Durant made the most of those. 24 hours after a masterful performance against the Spurs, Durant put up 40 points on 21 field goals.
It was a frustrating night for Klay Thompson. He finished with 25 points, but worked hard all night for those points against a vastly improved defensive Blazers team.
Outside of those two, it was a rough night for a team that boasts the motto strength in numbers. Zaza Pachulia finished with 0 in six minutes, Nick Young hit one shot on the night, Draymond posted a stat line of 7 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists a nights after a triple double. The support simply wasn’t there for Golden State, who lost to the Blazers for the second time on the year.
Golden State drops to 11-5 without Stephen Curry on the floor for the season with the loss. Earlier in the night the Houston Rockets squandered their own win streak and the Warriors were tied for first in the West, but drop a half game back with the loss.
Next up for Golden State is a trip to Minnesota on Sunday. Set your alarms early, the two teams will tipoff at 12:30 p.m. PT.