Warriors crush Blazers 132-95 to get a good start out of the break

PORTLAND WAS TOO SMALL ERNIE.

Stephen Curry is a real trip. Mere days after dropping 50-points at the All-Star game surrounded by his peers and the living legends of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary team, he goes back to his regular team and dishes out 14 assists. Who is this guy?? Is he a a voracious scorer or is he a traditional point guard who gets everyone else involved???

The Golden State Warriors blasted the Portland Trail Blazers 132-95 in Rip City, fueled by Curry’s passing brilliance. Those 14 assists weren’t Curry’s career high, but it’s definitely one of his best games facilitating for his teammates per Stat Muse:

Guru @DrGuru_

Stephen Curry is putting on a passing clinic on national television.

Kuminga lives at the line

Warriors’ rookie Jonathan Kuminga made an impact on last night’s game at the free throw line, going 10-of-12 with 10 of those attempts coming by halftime.

Antonin @antonin_org

Jonathan Kuminga with 10 points and most importantly 8-for-10 on free throws in the first half. Great to see it.

You know how some players can get hot with a jumpshot and seem unstoppable? Kuminga got hot with foul drawing lmao. Here’s a few clips of him bludgeoning Portland:

Anfernee Simons misses a three over Kuminga’s contest. Curry scoops it up as Kuminga bolts the other way, easy money.

The Blazers are in a zone in an effort to stymie Golden State’s rhythm. The Dubs find the weakness in the defense with quick passing that shifts Portland around enough that Kuminga can streak back door from the corner for a powerful rim attack.

Curry lulls the defense to sleep, setting up Kuminga ducking into the paint where he can bull his way into some contact. EASY MONEY.

Kuminga with a head full of steam on the fast break is trying to force the defense to collapse on him. That leaves Klay Thompson wide open in the corner, but Kuminga’s pass can’t get to him because the Blazers hack his arms out of terror. Even though JK wasn’t going for a shot, he gets free throws out of this because the Warriors were in the bonus due to Portland’s nonstop fouling.

This is the kind of physical approach OG’s like Charles Barkley love. Kuminga imposed his will and superior athleticism to get Portland in foul trouble, warp their defense, and rack up easy points at the charity stripe.

Kendra Andrews @kendra__andrews

Kuminga's perspective on it: "I’m going to keep it real -- the team doesn’t really need me to shoot. We have seven shooters and two of them are the best shooters in the league. I don’t need to be out there chasing threes. I can get to the line really easy."

Kendra Andrews @kendra__andrews

Steve Kerr on Kuminga's ability to get to the line: "One of the reasons Bob (Myers) drafted him was because of that athleticism and that power. It’s something we haven’t really had a lot of on our roster ... it’s added a different dimension to our team."

StatMuse @statmuse

Jonathan Kuminga in February: 15.4 PPG 4.8 RPG 58.8 FG% in 26.4 MPG Double-digit scoring in all 9 games.

Blazers’ downfall

When the Warriors swept Portland in the 2019 Western Conference Finals, there was a lot of discussion as to whether or not the Blazers could make that next leap to the NBA Finals. They had run into Golden State three times during the Dubs’ five straight Finals trips, and went a combined 1-12 in those playoff games.

Portland’s been to the playoffs eight straight years but never could breakthrough. Now their team is being remodeled on the fly, with injuries to key cogs Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic forcing them to battle for a play-in spot. I’m not sure what the future holds for their franchise, but it definitely makes me appreciate Golden State rising from the ashes of their two-year playoff drought to build another contender despite the serious injuries they’ve suffered.

On to the next one!