Warriors Drop Home Opener to Trail Blazers

<!–

presented by

—>

The second season of Warriors basketball at Chase Center tipped off on Friday, but the Trail Blazers spoiled the Warriors’ New Year’s Night party by handing the Dubs a 123-98 defeat.

The cliché of first home after a long road trip is a struggle certainly rang true for the Dubs. Tipping off a seven-game homestand after playing four road games against Eastern Conference opponents, the Warriors struggled to make shots early and played an overwhelming majority of the game trailing by double digits.

Draymond Green made his season debut after sitting out the first four games of the season and Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 26 points, eight rebounds and five assists, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with the 3-point marksmanship displayed by the Trail Blazers.

TEAM LEADERS

GSW
Points	Rebounds	Assists
Curry – 26	Curry – 8	Curry – 5
Wiggins – 15	Lee – 7	Green – 4
Paschall – 13	Wiseman – 5	Toscano-Anderson – 3

POR
Points	Rebounds	Assists
Lillard – 34	Covington – 11	Lillard – 8
McCollum – 28	Jones – 8	McCollum – 4
Anthony – 18	Nurkic – 8	Jones – 3

Portland made seven of their first eight 3-pointers, including a perfect 4-for-4 start by CJ McCollum, helping the Trail Blazers get out to a 20-point lead nine minutes into the game.

But the Warriors’ bench would get the team back in the game. After not playing the last two games, Kent Bazemore came off the bench for the Dubs and hit consecutive 3-pointers. His eight points in the opening period quadrupled his total season output going into the game, and second-year forward Eric Paschall took the torch in the second quarter. Last year’s All-Rookie First Team selection made three shots in the first two minutes of the period, and he went into the break with nine points.

After going into the half down by 12, the Warriors got as close as nine points down in the third quarter before Damian Lillard took over the game, scoring 13 of his game-high 34 points during a 22-7 Portland run that put the game away for the Blazers.

Lillard and McCollum combined to make 10 3-pointers as Portland shot 20-for-43 on 3-pointers for the game, while the Warriors shot just 7-for-35 from distance.

Now 2-3 on the season, the Warriors will meet the Blazers (3-2) again on Sunday as their seven-game homestand continues.

DUB HUB DEBUT
In addition to this game marking the Warriors’ home opener, it also marked the debut of the Dub Hub. With fans unable to attend the game at Chase Center due to the COVID-19 pandemic, select members of Dub Nation still had the opportunity to get up close and personal to the action via a virtual fan experience. From the comfort of their own home, the Dub Hub participants had unique viewing experiences into the game in an online watch party environment, plus they were featured on digital displays courtside on Chase Center. For more information on the Dub Hub and how to join for a future game, click here.

<!–

More Notables …

The upcoming season-long seven-game homestand will mark Golden State’s first seven-game homestand since Dec. 20-30, 2017.

Golden State shot a season-high 50.0 percent from the field (38-of-76 FG) and 42.4 percent from three-point range (14-of-33 3FG)… The Warriors held the Pistons to 38.0 percent from the floor (35-of-92 FG).

The Warriors have won consecutive games for the first time since Feb. 1-3, 2020.

The Warriors have won their last game of the calendar year in eight of the last nine years and are 40-35 all-time in such games.

Stephen Curry recorded his second-straight 30-point game with 31 points on 9-of-17 from the field (5-of-9 from three)… Curry (8-of-8 FT) extended his franchise-record free throw streak to 72 consecutive free throws made, the longest such streak in the NBA since Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki hit 74-straight from March 4-27, 2011.

Andrew Wiggins scored a season-high 27 points, including 17 points in the fourth quarter to equal the highest scoring fourth quarter of his career… Wiggins hit 5-of-8 from three-point range and added seven rebounds and three blocks.

Damion Lee appeared in his 100th career NBA game, finishing with eight points and three rebounds… Lee is 9-of-15 from three-point range (.600) to begin the season.

Juan Toscano-Anderson earned his second-straight start (eighth career), tallying five points, four assists and three rebounds… Golden State is 5-3 with Toscano in the starting lineup (2-0 this season).

Kelly Oubre Jr. scored in double figures for the first time as a Warrior, finishing with 14 points on 6-of-10 from the field while adding five rebounds, two blocks and two steals.