![\"Stephen](\"https:\/\/cdn.britannica.com\/21\/233921-050-69BE4DB8\/Stephen-Curry-Golden-State-Warriors-Dillon-Brooks-Memphis-Grizzlies-NBA-action-2022.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe Golden State Warriors wasted an amazing performance from Steph Curry in a 136-131 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night, falling to 13-14 on the season. The Dubs have lost two consecutive games where Curry played like one of the best five players in the NBA. It is a stunning indictment of the organization, including his teammates.<\/p>\n
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Warriors head coach Steve Kerr went with a more traditional starting lineup, putting a center (Quinten Post) and a little more sizable wing (Moses Moody) alongside Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, and Draymond Green. While Curry started strong, building on an excellent performance in the Dubs loss to the Wolves on Friday, the rest of the starting lineup left something to be desired. Portland jumped out to an early 20-14 lead.<\/p>\n
Green had a particularly frustrating performance. He was able to take advantage of limited defensive pressure from the Blazers early, scoring 14 points. However, as usual, Green became less willing to shoot as the game goes on and committed 8 turnovers, largely in situations where he was not facing any defensive pressure. They led to several outbursts, one at his teammate Quinten Post and multiple toward referees that landed him a technical foul.<\/p>\n
Brandin Podziemski provided a valuable spark off the bench, particularly when Curry was resting. Podz immediately recorded a steal and made a couple of shots during his first stint. Still, the Dubs trailed 34-31 at the end of the first quarter. Buddy Hield had another solid game off the bench as well, scoring 10 points on seven shot attempts.<\/p>\n
Still, those performances were less than secondary. The Warriors were entirely reliant on an incredible performance from Steph Curry. While this game will be buried in the ocean of Curry\u2019s greatness, he scored 48 poitns 16-for-26 from the field and 12-for-19 from three.<\/p>\n
While neither team built any sizable leads for most of the game, Curry helped the Warriors build a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter. The Blazers decided to double-team him and force someone else to step up. Interim coach Tiago Splitter\u2019s strategy worked to perfection and sparked a 12-0 run that gave Portland a 111-110 lead before a Moses Moody corner three ended Golden State\u2019s scoring drought.<\/p>\n
Kerr gave Curry one final break. Podziemski knocked a down a step-back three on his first possession and Trayce Jackson-Davis converted an and-one on the next. That was enough offense for Steph to re-enter with a 121-119 lead for the final 3:58 in regulation.<\/p>\n
Blazers forward Jerami Grant made several open threes throughout the fourth quarter, preventing the Dubs from putting his team away. In the final minutes, a Grant three pulled Portland within two points and Deni Avdjia converted an and-one go give the Blazers a 127-126 lead. A Curry three put Golden State ahead by two, but Grant completed an and-one of his own to go up 130-129 with 70 seconds left.<\/p>\n
Grant and Shaedon Sharpe led the way for the Blazers. Sharpe led the Blazers with 35 points while Grant racked up 33. They were a combined 24-for-40 from the field and 12-for-18 from three. Most frustratingly, most of those three-point attempts were wide open looks.<\/p>\n
Clearly frustrated that the Blazers were hanging around, Curry tried to force a three over a double team and missed, giving the Blazers an opportunity to give themselves some breathing room. However, Butler and Curry combined for a steal. Curry pushed the ball in transition and missed a layup. Butler was in position for a pair of contested tip-in opportunities but missed both. Avdjia eventually drew a foul and made both of his free-throw attempts.<\/p>\n
Trailing 132-129 with 19.9 seconds left, Curry was overwhelmed by a double team and committed his third turnover of the game, effectively sealing the Warriors fate.<\/p>\n
The Warriors will have three days off before they face the Suns in Phoenix. They\u2019ll try to right the ship and get back to .500. It\u2019s hard to have much faith in that though.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Steph Curry tried to carry the Golden State Warriors to victory, but the team failed him against the Trail Blazers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":130862,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\n