“We couldn’t ask for a better start nearly midway through the regular season”, guard Klay Thompson said, after scoring 36 points to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 128-108 National Basketball Association (NBA) victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday. The Kings built as much as a seven-point lead in the opening quarter and led by six in the second, 39-33, when Curry and Harrison Barnes hit back-to-back 3-pointers. On this cloudy December evening in Oakland, Stephen Curry has just scored eight points in three consecutive possessions.
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The Warriors (35-2) have beaten the Kings four times this season. And 6-7, 230-pound forward Draymond Green notched his NBA-high eighth triple-double of the season, quietly putting up 11 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in 33 minutes.
Rudy Gay continued his strong play of late, finishing with 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting.
Reigning league MVP Stephen Curry added 26 points and nine assists in three quarters for the Warriors (34-2), who led by as many as 25 points and made 18 3-pointers.
Are the Golden State Warriors afraid of the San Antonio Spurs?
Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, right, goes to the basket against Sacramento Kings forward DeMarcus Cousins during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016, in Sacramento, Calif. It makes sense, givenCurry’s second quarter outburst, that the rest of the Warriors saw easier opportunities to start the third quarter.
Curry said Thompson sparked the Warriors. That’s four in the last five games. He came out smoking with 19 first-quarter points, hitting on seven of nine shots from the field, including five of five on three-point tries.
NOTES: Golden State is now 17-0 at home, 17-2 on the road…. Even so, they should be a bit concerned about the San Antonio Spurs who might not have the same record as the Warriors, but they do have a highly competitive one and they are playing the strongest defense in the game this season, according to USA Today.
“It’s always good to be the first one to do something, especially being a part of an organization I plan on being with my entire career”, Lillard said. “He just got kicked in that same spot again and it kind of stunned him a little bit”, Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton said, according to Sportsoutwest.com. Green had a stretch of three straight games against Milwaukee, Utah and Cleveland where he played 40, 38, and 39 minutes and then followed that up a short time later with a clump against Houston, Denver and Charlotte where he logged 38, 44 and 37 minutes.
_Coach Steve Kerr, whose return date to the bench is still to be determined, made the trip with the team from Portland to Sacramento. If those fans imitate the style of play the Warriors used to burn the Blazers, I think the kids might just be alright.
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Fortunately for the Warriors, Cousins’ bugaboo – a propensity to get in foul trouble at the worst moments – probably cost the Kings a chance for an upset.
