Curry lacks help in loss to Blazers
Guard had 35 points, little relief vs. Portland
After outdueling Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard most of the night, Warriors guard Stephen Curry missed shots late and Lillard came up clutch as the Warriors lost 108106 in Portland Wednesday.
Curry (35 points on 13-for-28 shooting, 5-for-14 from 3-point range) was the game’s high-scorer but, in the final 4½ minutes, Lillard scored 10 points and drew a key charge on Draymond Green to put the finishing touches on Golden State’s loss.
The Warriors led for much of the game until Lillard drained a 29-foot step-back jumper in tran
sition after Curry missed a layup with 13.7 seconds to go. On the next possession, the Trail Blazers forced the ball out of Curry’s hands, and Green drove to the basket where Lillard drew a charge and offensive foul with 3.3 seconds remaining. Down the final stretch, Curry missed his last three shots, while Lillard made his last two shots and both free throws.
Here are three takeaways from the game. STEPH CURRY NEEDS HELP >> Heading into the fourth quarter, Curry had 27 points and Lillard had just 12. However, Curry did not get much help. No teammate scored more than 14 points, and the non-Curry Warriors shot just 40.5% overall. With Kelly Oubre Jr. out with a wrist injury, Andrew Wiggins had 14 points on 15 shots and Kent Bazemore needed 12 shots to score 12 points.
“We just need more scoring in general from anybody other than Steph,” head coach Steve Kerr said.
Meanwhile, Lillard finished with 22 points on 6-for-17 shooting (3-for10 from 3-point range), Carmelo Anthony had 22 points off the bench and Gary Trent Jr. and Robert
Covington each chipped in 15.
Oubre’s absence hurt. He has scored in double figures in his last 16 games, and the Warriors have been able to leverage Curry’s gravity to get him open slips and cuts to the rim. There were times when James Wiseman, Bazemore and Wiggins were able to take advantage of Portland’s defense overloading Curry, but they need to do so more consistently.
“We’ve gotten a lot better
at finding open guys moving and cutting into open space, not being on top of each other,” Curry said. “It’s drastically different than it was at the beginning of the season.” FOUL ISSUES PERSIST >> Heading into Wednesday’s game, the Warriors were among the NBA’s teams most guilty for fouling. After committing 24 fouls against the Trail Blazers, the Warriors are fouling opponents 21.9 times per game — the second-highest
rate in the league. Kerr has lambasted his team all season for reaching, and doing so gave Portland 22 points at the freethrow line. Compared to Golden State’s nine made free throws, that’s a gamedeciding differential. Despite Kerr’s constant emphasis on not fouling, the trend is going in the wrong direction. Over the last four games, the Warriors are committing an average of 23.3 fouls — tops in the league.