Warriors aim for third win this month over Blazers

Warriors aim for third win this month over Blazers

In an attempt to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers for the third time in 17 days on

Saturday night in San Francisco, the Golden State Warriors will attempt

what is known as the basketball equivalent of a hat trick.

On December 6, the Warriors, who had lost nine of their previous twelve games and

had not won back-to-back games since November 3–4,

finally overcame the visiting Trail Blazers at home,

winning 110–106. 31 points from Stephen Curry helped the team win.

That was the first of eight games played with five victories,

including a 118-114 victory in a rematch last Sunday in Portland.

On a night when Curry was restricted to seven points on an

unusual 2-for-12 shooting performance by the Trail Blazers,

Klay Thompson set the stage with 28 points.

The Warriors lead the series 4-0 heading into their third meeting.

They defeated the visiting Washington Wizards 129-118 on Friday night,

matching their biggest victory margin this year since a 130-102 rout of the New Orleans Pelicans in October.

Portland has lost eight of its last nine games;

its only victory came at home against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night, 109-104.

As they get ready to play away from home for the first time since December 11,

the Trail Blazers have dropped three straight games on the road.

They go back home and play three games in a row to end the year.

Portland just finished a road back-to-back that included a trip to Golden State,

where they were defeated 118-117 by the Wizards.

After shocking the Trail Blazers with a season-high 14 points and eight rebounds,

rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis used last Sunday’s Warriors victory at Portland as a kind of coming-out celebration.

Due to Draymond Green’s suspension, Jackson-Davis, the son of former NBA star Dale Davis,

has been seeing more playing time lately.

He had two straight double-doubles after his Portland outburst:

10 points and 13 rebounds in the Boston Celtics victory on Tuesday,

then 10 points and a career-high 15 rebounds against the Wizards on Friday.

Jackson-Davis, the 57th choice in the summer draft,

joined Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren as

the only rookies to record back-to-back double-doubles this season.

“Trayce is providing us with an alternative appearance,” stated Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.

“The capacity to complete tasks and stop shots.

He differs from our other men in that he plays above the rim.”

Along with the banned Green and the injured Gary Payton II,

Andrew Wiggins (illness) was left out of the Warriors’ lineup on

Friday and is still doubtful to play against the Trail Blazers.

He scored 25 points in Sunday’s victory at Portland,

which is his third-highest total of the year.

Compared to their previous meeting with the Warriors,

the Trail Blazers will have a smaller bench because Shaedon Sharpe was forced to leave

Thursday’s game against Washington due to a groyne injury.

He chose not to travel to San Francisco.

On December 6, during Portland’s visit to Golden State,

Sharpe scored 26 points. Following Damian Lillard’s offseason move to Milwaukee,

Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups stated that his team suffers more than most when it isn’t playing at its best.

“We’ve got some good players and some guys that are going to be All-Stars in this league,” Billups stated.

However, we don’t currently have that guy that you can simply toss it

to kind of kickstart the game for the first four or five minutes.

Simply put, we lack that. Consequently, we must act as a team.”

Get more related news on https://dailysportnews.co.uk