On April 12, Beijing time, the NBA regular season entered the final stage, and no team in the Western Conference play-off interval could afford to lose, especially the Warriors, who were still in tenth place. The previous Warriors had a record of 44 wins and 35 losses, and today's away challenge is the second-to-last Trail Blazers in the West, the Trail Blazers had a previous record of 21 wins and 58 losses, and they are still trying to hit the bottom three, striving to get the highest probability of winning the championship, in short, the Trail Blazers have no motivation to win. On the Warriors' side, in addition to playing the Trail Blazers, the remaining games will also play the Pelicans and Jazz, and the good news is that Ingram will not come back to the Warriors and will come back to the Lakers. If the Warriors win three in a row, there is a high probability that they will be able to enter the top eight, and their fate is in their own hands. And the Lakers in front of them, even if they win two in a row, they may fall to tenth in the West, depending on the face of others, after all, the Lakers were swept by the Kings in the regular season and faced the Warriors 1-3.
Since it was confirmed that the play-offs would be played, Kerr continued to arrange for players to rest in the face of the fish belly Trail Blazers. First of all, Dream Green was sidelined for a right knee contusion, Klein did not play with a knee injury, including Payton Jr., who also had a calf tension and was out of action. Statistically limited, in Curry's entire career, when Green and Klay were not playing, Curry led the team to 8-8 alone. Although the Trail Blazers are not very competitive, Ayton, the core of the interior, has played very well recently, averaging 24 points and 13.5 rebounds per game in the past 15 games and 26 points and 13.6 rebounds per game in the last five games. Warriors starters: Curry + Paul + Wiggins + Kuminga + Davis, Trail Blazers starters: Henderson + Ruppel + Murray + Walker + Ayton.
At the beginning of the game, Henderson ate Kuminga alone, Walker flew and dunked, Curry and Wiggins rained three-pointers, Henderson continued his outside firepower, and Ayton also scored easily under the basket. When the Trail Blazers opened a 7-point difference, Curry made a high-speed layup to stop the bleeding, and then combined with Kuminga to rain three-pointers, Kuminga continued strong attacks at the end of the quarter, and the first quarter was overtaken, and the Warriors overtook the Trail Blazers 24-22. The overall height and confrontation of the Warriors are not enough, and the game is much more difficult than expected. Coming back in the second quarter, the Trail Blazers' CBA celebrity Reece scored 8 points in a row and led the team to overtake the Warriors. Kuminga dunked to stop the bleeding, Paul scored from mid-range, Henderson and Ayton led the team to bite the score, and the two teams fell into a tug-of-war! In the second half, Davis made one after another, and Curry also continued to hit a three-pointer, and the Warriors led the Trail Blazers 49-46 at halftime.
In the first half, Curry and Kuminga both scored 11 points, Wiggins had 10 points, Ayton had 15 points and six rebounds on the Trail Blazers' side, and Henderson had 12 points and six assists. The Trail Blazers' defensive motivation is good, and the Warriors themselves have too many turnovers. At the beginning of the second half, Ayton continued to bully Davis, Curry threw a difficult shot, Wiggins continued to make a three-pointer, but then the Trail Blazers quickly overtook the score under the leadership of Henderson! At the critical moment, Paul's three-point shot stopped the bleeding, Kuminga made a basket, and Davis made a kill, but the Trail Blazers relied on the three-point rain of Walker and Minaya to bite the score. At the end of the third quarter, the Warriors led the Trail Blazers by one point at 75-74. The Warriors really played poorly, Moody's pass to Looney hit Looney directly on the head, and Looney looked forward and didn't pay attention to the incoming ball at all.
In the fourth quarter of the decisive battle, Murray of the Trail Blazers led the team to continue to widen the difference, the Trail Blazers overtook 6 points, Curry stopped the bleeding with three points in time, and then assisted Looney to score a dunk! In the middle of the period, Curry hit a three-point shot to tie the score, and at the decisive moment, Curry hit a three-pointer, Looney ate the cake, and then Bojie counterattacked and made a layup! The Warriors played a wave of 16-1 in 5 minutes to open up the difference, and in the last 3 minutes, although Ayton scored continuously, Paul's three-point shot sealed the victory. In the end, the Warriors had a thrilling 100-92 victory over the Trail Blazers!
Warriors statistics, Curry 22 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists, Davis 10 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, Kuminga 19 points and 6 rebounds, Wiggins 15 points and 5 rebounds, Podemski 9 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists, Moody 8 points, Looney 9 points and 11 rebounds. Trail Blazers stats, Ayton 25 points and 11 rebounds, Henderson 18 points, 12 assists and 9 turnovers, Walker 17 points and 16 rebounds, Murray 14 points and 4 rebounds.
The game was ugly for the Warriors, the result was good, and the process was useless. Similar to the Suns, when the Warriors encounter a team that is not so strong, they are also all kinds of slackness, and the direct result is that they make mistakes and the game cannot raise the rhythm. But the Warriors from Kerr to Curry, including Kuminga and Wiggins, who kept making mistakes, have they ever thought about the consequences of losing? Fortunately, in the fourth quarter, Curry stepped up, and Curry really needed Klay, and Klay was not there, and Curry enjoyed the treatment of being wrapped up all over the court. Because the Kings lost to the Pelicans, after this game, the Warriors' record tied the eighth-place Kings and ranked ninth, surpassing the Lakers.