The Portland Trail Blazers were shorthanded and brought all the effort they could.
But the Blazers were simply outclassed in the second half by the Golden State Warriors, who cruised to a 122-108 win Tuesday at the Moda Center.
Warriors guard Steph Curry led everybody with 33 points to ago along with 10 assists. Golden State also had five players in double figures in wrapping up the Pacific Division, its first division title in 39 years.
“It’s a special, special night for the Warriors,” said head coach Steve Kerr. “We have T-shirts. The guys were excited. They all took a group photo. I think they all put it on Instagram.”
It was a night of celebration for the Warriors. For the Blazers, they could really only throw up their hands.
“In the second half, they just outplayed us,” said Damian Lillard, who scored 29 points.
The Blazers were without two starters in LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum and their most-used reserve, center Chris Kaman.
Lillard scored 12 first quarter points and had 18 first half points, leading the Blazers in a game where they desperately needed him.
Everything that Portland got came from their energy. They hustled for loose balls, made extra passes and took the game to the Warriors in the early going.
Alonzo Gee and Dorell Wright played with energy in the starting line-up. Portland’s bench also came to play. Wright was Portland’s second leading scorer at halftime with 12 and Gee hounded Curry full court for much of the game.
Portland played all 10 active bodies they had but nobody made more of a noticeable imprint on the game off the bench than CJ McCollum.
McCollum scored 10 points in 1:50 of play in the 2nd quarter and the Blazers pushed their lead to as high as 12 points in the 2nd quarter. McCollum finished with a new career high of 23 points, showing the type of offense they need off the bench.
Portland led by 62-57 at halftime as they took great care of the ball with only two turnovers compared to seven for the Warriors.
“We played well, we played in flow,” said Lillard. “We attacked, we made shots, we made the extra pass, the right passes. It just went our way. Our approach to the game was the right type of approach which was just to attack the game.”
The Warriors came out guns blazing in the third quarter. After a Gee dunk, the Warriors went on a 12-2 run to take a three point lead and never looked back. As they did the night before against the Wizards, the Warriors tightened the screws in the 3rd quarter.
The Warriors’ ball movement was relentless and their defense forced Portland to take and make tough shots. Golden State rode that combination to double up the Blazers in the third quarter 36-18.
Portland shot 29 percent in the third quarter while the Warriors shot a blistering 64 percent.
The Blazers hung around to start the fourth quarter while the Warriors were also playing around, running nonsense plays for the likes of back-up center Festus Ezeli.
Eventually the Warriors fast-paced brand of ball wore the Blazers down to the point that their effort didn’t matter. And Kerr left their stars into game as they threw up alley-oops even after Portland had waved the white flag by pulling Lillard and Afflalo with three minutes left.
The odds are unlikely that they would lose their division lead over Oklahoma City, which currently stands at four games after Tuesday.
But it is not as if things will get any easier as they must head to the high altitude of Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Jazz, who handed them their worst loss of the season on Feb. 20.
