Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, left, drives to the basket as Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, right, defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Portland, Ore., Friday, Feb. 19, 2016. Atlanta have lost three straight at home for the first time since March 2014.
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“We weren’t as focused as we should be”, said Warriors guard Klay Thompson, who scored 23 points and added he could feel some rust coming out of the All-Star break. In an effort to mount a comeback and stop the bleeding, Golden State tried to force passes that continued to get deflected and picked off by the opposition.
“It’s just frustrating the way we played in the third quarter after we did all that work to get back in the game”. Portland led 104-79 after three and the lead could have been bigger if the Blazers had been able to convert more of those turnovers into points (see full recap). Lillard and Westbrook are the only two point guards that are top ten in scoring and assists, but where Lillard gets the edge in comparison to other guards in the league is his value.
Bryant is retiring at season’s end with the Lakers way out of the playoff picture at 11-45. He finished with seven points and eight boards. If there’s a silver lining for Golden State, it’s that Kevon Looney got some minutes tonight, grabbing a career-high 8 rebounds. He is also the first Blazer to score at least 30 points in four consecutive games since Clyde Drexler accomplished the feat in 1991.
In Orlando, Victor Oladipo had 17 points and a career-high 14 rebounds and hit the 3-pointer that put the Magic ahead for good in overtime against Dallas. The Pacers have won six of nine.
Forward Kevin Love scored 29 points to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to an emphatic 115-92 road victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
In New York, Brook Lopez scored 33 points and the Brooklyn beat the Knicks to hand them their seventh straight loss. A home contest against the NBA’s Rocky Mountain Representatives won’t be on the league’s casual fans’ radars, but if a postseason spot is up for grabs, you’d better believe Rip City will have its collective eyeballs all over the Moda Center until the clock strikes 0:00. They’ve dropped both games under Rambis after Derek Fisher was sacked February 8.
“He looked like Steph Curry out there”, Steve Kerr said after his worst loss as a coach left the Warriors with their 11-game winning streak snapped and record of 48-5. Reserve Maurice Harkless scored 17 points, and Ed Davis had 11 on 4-for-4 shooting. “We have to play well against them”.
James Harden’s 27 points and 10 rebounds saw the Houston Rockets to 116-100 win over the Phoenix Suns.
John Wall had 22 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as Washington beat visiting Detroit 98-86.
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Jazz: Mack and Hayward were collegiate teammates for two seasons at Butler (2008-10), losing to Duke in the 2010 national championship game.
