What we learned as Warriors beat Blazers, move to No. 9 in West

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What we learned as Warriors beat Blazers, move to No. 9 in West originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The short-handed Warriors were challenged until the final minute Thursday night at Moda Center, before staving off the Portland Trail Blazers 100-92 for yet another crucial win.

All tied at 86 points apiece at the 6:25 mark in the fourth quarter, the Warriors outscored the Blazers 14-6 down the stretch. Golden State now (45-35) is the Western Conference’s No. 9 seed, leapfrogging the Los Angeles Lakers (45-35) with the win by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Steph Curry’s 22 points led the Warriors, but the star sharpshooter was only 8 of 22 from the field and 5 of 16 on 3-pointers. He also contributed eight assists, seven rebounds, two blocks and one steal.

Jonathan Kuminga (19 points), Andrew Wiggins (15 points) and Trayce Jackson-Davis (10 points) were the only other Warriors in double figures.

The Warriors, one game after making threes at an historic pace, shot 34.3 percent beyond the arc in the Pacific Northwest. But the Blazers (21-59) were worse. They finished 8 of 34 on threes for a lowly 23.5 percent.

Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ third straight win.

Complacency

Down Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Gary Payton II, the Warriors had to play a clean game and instead gave the Blazers chance after chance to hang around. They played like a team that thought they could waltz into the Blazers’ home and walk away with an easy win. As if they hadn’t learned their lesson already this season. On countless occasions, too.

The Warriors’ affinity for turning the ball over was baffling at times Thursday night. They cleaned it up in the fourth quarter, but their sloppy play is what had the Blazers hanging around.

Golden State gave the ball away 16 times, which turned into 19 points by the Blazers. The Warriors scored 14 points off 13 Blazers turnovers. Midway through the third quarter, the Warriors were yet to score a point off a turnover while the Blazers already had 15 such points.

Portland put up 20 more shot attempts than the Warriors, and had 13 more second-chance points.

Stay Ready

Kevon…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/learned-warriors-beat-blazers-move-045208275.html

Author : NBC Sports BayArea

Publish date : 2024-04-12 04:52:08

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