OAKLAND -- The Portland Trail Blazers fell to 13-13 overall and 6-5 on the road this season after losing 111-104 to the Golden State Warriors in front of a sellout crowd of 19,596 Monday night at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
The Trail Blazers have now lost their last five games overall and their last seven to the Warriors. Portland has not won on the Warriors home floor since November of 2013.
After taking a one-point lead after the first 12 minutes, Portland was outscored by 14 in the second quarter to go into the half down 60-47. Golden State would go on to lead by as many as 24 points in second half, though a 17-4 Portland run cut the lead down to single digits late in the game. But even with Damian Lillard going for 39 points, the Trail Blazers weren’t able to overcome such a large deficit with Golden State shooting 55 percent from the field and 50 percent from three.
TOP SCORERS
The Trail Blazers were led by Damian Lillard, who went 12-of-28 from the field, 5-of-13 from three and 10-of-11 from the free throw line to finish with a game-high 39 points to go wiuth four rebounds, two assists and two steals in 42 minutes. With the performance, Lillard joins Lebron James, James Harden, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Devin Booker as the only players to score at least 30 points in 10 games this season.
The Warriors were led by Kevin Durant, who shot better than 50 percent from the field to finish with 28 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals in 36 minutes. Klay Thompson took 21 shots to finish with 24 points while both Omri Casspi and Jordan Bell added 11 points.
NO ROOM FOR SECONDS
As has often been the case this season, the Trail Blazers looked up to the task in the first quarter of Monday night’s loss in Oakland. Damian Lillard and Evan Turner each scored eight points, the team combined to shoot 50 percent from the field, they turned the ball over just once, scored 16 points in the paint and even got nine fastbreak points to finish the first 12 minute of play leading 28-27.
But for as good as they were in the first quarter, they were just as bad in the second, shooting just 28 percent from the field while logging only two assists and turning the ball over five times. Meanwhile, the Warriors went 13-of-19 from the field while doling out eight assists to outscore the Trail Blazers 33-19 in the quarter and take a 60-47 lead into the intermission.
ADDING INSULT TO INJURY
There aren’t many teams in the NBA that can lose two all-stars to injury and still come away with a blowout victory, but the Warriors are certainly one of the few that can, a fact that was evident Monday night at Oracle Arena.
Even though two-time MVP Stephen Curry missed his third-straight game with a sprained right ankle and Draymond Green, the 2016-17 Defensive Player of the Year, was a late scratch due to shoulder soreness, the Warriors had no problem separating themselves from the Trail Blazers in the second half thanks to six players scoring in double figures.
The Trail Blazers weren’t playing with their full complement of players either, with both Jusuf Nurkić (right ankle sprain) and Maurice Harkless (left quad contusion) sitting out their second game due to injuries.
NEXT UP
With the west coast portion of their five-game road trip now complete, the Trail Blazers head east to South Beach for a Wednesday night tilt versus the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on NBC Sports Northwest and Rip City Radio 620 AM.