The depleted Portland Trail Blazers finally ran into an injury they could not overcome.
The Golden State Warriors bludgeoned the Blazers Tuesday night at Chase Center, using an overpowering first half and a barrage of three-pointers to breeze to a 119-97 victory before 18,064 in San Francisco.
The lopsided loss came without do-it-all Blazers forward Deni Avdija, who suffered a lower back injury on Sunday and missed his first game this season.
The Warriors capitalized on the budding star’s absence from the opening tip, suffocating the shorthanded Blazers with a lethal, high-octane offense that attacked from all angles. Golden State roared to an early 12-4 edge, snatched its first double-digit advantage with 4:39 left in the first quarter and led by as many as 29 points in the start-to-finish slaughter.
The Blazers faced a double-digit deficit for 40 minutes, 39 seconds of the game.
Perhaps the biggest surprise wasn’t that Golden State overwhelmed a team that started a pair of two-way players, but rather that it did so despite a pedestrian game from All-Star Stephen Curry.
The two-time MVP scored a season-low seven points, finishing in single-digits for just the second time this season. Instead, the Warriors leaned on their depth, as 12 different players scored.
De’Anthony Melton finished with 23 points on 9-for-14 shooting and Jimmy Butler III recorded 16 points, six rebounds and five assists, carrying Golden State (22-19) to its sixth win in the last nine games.
This one was virtually over by halftime, when the Warriors built a 26-point lead and held the Blazers to a season-low 41 first-half points. Golden State was a blur of beautiful passing and smooth shooting in the impressive opening half, during which they shot 50% from the field and accumulated 19 assists on 23 made field goals.
The Warriors’ long-range shooting was the difference, especially in the first quarter, when they made 8 of 15 three-pointers. During one torrid first-half stretch, seven consecutive Golden State field goals were threes.
At halftime, the Warriors almost had as many three-pointers (13) as the Blazers had made field goals (15). And by the end of the night, the Blazers had allowed 23 threes, one shy of their season-high.
Most were set up by pristine passes as the Warriors toyed with Portland’s defense as if they were playing hot potato. Golden State finished with 34 assists, three shy of the Blazers’ opponent high. Ten Warriors recorded an assist, including Curry, who made up for his pedestrian scoring night by handing out 11 assists.
Amid all the Golden State fireworks, the Blazers managed to deliver a few highlights.
There was a rim-rattling alley-oop dunk from Shaedon Sharpe off a lob pass from Caleb Love. There was a mini 7-0 run by Donovan Clingan. There were 20 encouraging minutes from Jrue Holiday, who recorded 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists in his second game back from a 27-game injury absence. And there was an impressive 19-5 run at the start of the second half that trimmed the Warriors’ lead to 12 points.
But the highlights were few and far between.
Sharpe finished with 19 points on 9-of-15 shooting and Love added 17 points and seven assists in his first career start, but the Blazers were careless with the ball (22 turnovers), cold from long-range (30% three-point shooting) and generally overmatched.
In addition to Avdija, who was sidelined with lower back soreness, the Blazers were missing six other injured players.
As a result, they failed to complete a season sweep of the four-game series between the teams for the first time since 2002-03.
Next up
The Blazers play the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday at 7 p.m. at Moda Center.