Trail Blazers set to test mettle vs. Warriors
PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Portland Trail Blazers aren't claiming momentum as they take a modest three-game winning streak into Sunday's night's Moda Center matchup with the Golden State Warriors.
A victory over the Warriors could change that.
"If we keep it going," center Mason Plumlee said, asked after Friday night's 112-109 win over Memphis if the Trail Blazers were taking momentum into the Golden State game. "If we come in here and win Sunday, it will keep the ball rolling."
Portland (21-27) has won three straight games for the first time since Nov. 30-Dec. 5. The Blazers are in the middle of a five-game homestand as they battle Denver for the eighth spot in the Western Conference standings.
"We have to take advantage of home games right now," said guard CJ McCollum, who scored 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting against the Grizzlies.
"We're feeling good about ourselves," said guard Allen Crabbe, who came off the bench for 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting -- including 6-of-8 from 3-point range. "We need to polish up some of the things that we were having trouble with, making sure those things don't come back. It seems like we've stepped back every time we've had a couple of wins, but our focus is on moving forward."
Portland got a clutch performance from point guard Damian Lillard, a day after he was left off the list of reserves tabbed for the West team in the All-Star Game next month.
Lillard, who is the only player among the league's top dozen scorers not to make the game, scored 15 of his 33 points in the final 6:25 against the Grizzlies. Lillard featured 13 straight Blazer points in a span of 2:40 -- a pair of free throws, a 21-foot jump shot, then three successive 3-pointers, the last one giving Portland a 106-101 lead with 3:45 to play.
"Dame carried us," Portland coach Terry Stotts said. "It was good to see him have a stretch like that. He hasn't had one of those in a while. It was good to see the ball go through and have him carry the team like that. We don't win the game if he doesn't carry us offensively."
The Warriors carry an NBA-best 40-7 record into the Moda Center after a 144-98 rout of the Los Angeles Clippers Saturday night at Oracle Arena.
"It's going great," Golden State coach Steve Kerr told the Portland Tribune. "The record is good, but more importantly, we're making really good strides, improving all the time."
Golden State ranks No. 1 in the league in defensive efficiency.
"The first month of the season, we weren't close to that," Kerr said. "Over the last month, we've really gotten better at that end. That's a great sign considering what we lost personnel-wise over the summer.
"Our defense has changed quite a bit. We had a couple of dominant centers in (Andrew) Bogut and (Festus) Ezeli. We don't get the shot-blocking from the center position now, but we get solid play from Zaza (Pachulia) and David West. We play a little faster defensively with (Kevin Durant) and Draymond (Green) and Klay (Thompson) and Andre (Iguodala), wings who do a lot of switching. It's been great to see the guys coming around and clicking together."
