SAN FRANCISCO – The Warriors have done everything in their power to preserve Steph Curry and his aging knees for the regular season. Heavily-monitored minutes in the preseason, a practice schedule that has seen him participate only as a viewer. The goal: put as little strain as possible on his body as possible.
Trail Blazers did not get the memo at Chase Center on Friday night in the Warriors’ final preseason game. The visitors spent much of the first half knocking him to the floor, and a sluggish-looking Curry went just 3-of-11 from the field.
Physical play could keep Curry down for only so long in his dress rehearsal for the regular season. Curry made four of his five shots in the third quarter as the Warriors cruised to an 128-118 victory.
He made two 3-pointers, banked in a midrange jumper and connected on a layup.
Curry still did not flash much quickness even as he was knocking down shots, but at least he showed he could weather a larger workload.
After playing 23 minutes in Tuesday victory in Las Vegas, Curry ramped up his minutes to 26 in the final game. He scored 20 points.
Yaxel Lendeborg scored 17 and had four rebounds, while Brandin Podziemski chipped in 17 points.
Draymond Green had 11 assists and eight rebounds in 24 high-energy minutes. After a sluggish, turnover-filled start to the preseason, Green concluded the final four preseason matchups with a 26:5 assist:turnover ratio.
Oakland native Damian Lillard scored 23 in his return to the Bay Area after missing all of last season with an Achilles tear.
Sparkplug guard Brandon Williams was scratched with back tightness midway through the game.
The Warriors will have four days to rest before traveling to the Lakers for the season-opener on Wednesday.
**Charles Bassey starts again**
For the second game in a row, Bassey received the starting nod at center. But this time, he earned minutes next to Draymond Green as the Warriors played the rest of their starting lineup.
His first stint did not go well for the 25-year-old big man looking to find a permanent home in the Bay Area. The Warriors trailed 10-2 during his five-minute run to begin the game, with Donovan Clingan’s physicality too much for the slimmer Bassey.
Things turned around in the second quarter, a period highlighted by Bassey playing the hi-low game to perfection with Green and creating an alley-oop dunk. He had six points and four rebounds in eight minutes, but did not play in the second half. Green and Al Horford filled in at center in the third.
With Green and Horford both liable to miss games due to load management, and Kristaps Porzingis still out indefinitely, Bassey could be in line for minutes this season.
**Niang comes alive**
Georges Niang knocked in an and-1 layup in the first quarter, and then proceeded to prove that sometimes, a good shooter needs to see just one shot to go down to break out of a mini-slump.
Niang was 4 of 15 from behind the arc entering the final preseason game, and had missed all five of his attempts in Las Vegas. The career 39.9% 3-point shooter then knocked down back-to-back triples to spark a personal 9-0 run. He ended the night with 13 points.
Never the most athletic player, he called himself a below-average athlete after coming back from a foot injury that sidelined him for the entire 2025-26 season. Despite his lack of physical abilities, Kerr said Niang is expected to be a part of the rotation as a versatile forward.
“He generates a lot of offense through his cutting, screening, awareness, and he’s a good passer,” Kerr said. “He’s a little bit like BP. You may not necessarily recognize when he creates a shot because he didn’t make the pass, but he might be the one that went and set a screen and slipped to the rim and had a defender pull in because of that cut.”
**Lendeborg pick-and-roll**
The Warriors have dabbled in having prized rookie Yaxel Lendeborg try out the center spot. Results have been mixed.
In the finale, coach Steve Kerr gave him substantial runway to get reps as the de facto point guard. Results were promising. Lendeborg twice threw quick passes back out to the screening Al Horford for open 3-pointers.
Though his interior deliveries did not end in an assist, the 250-pounder displayed some real feel on lay down passes to teammates in the dunker spot.
He finished the night with five assists.