Curry 3-point streak ends, but Warriors still edge Trail Blazers

Klay Thompson scored 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 118-114 victory over the host Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday, December 17 (Monday, December 18, Manila time).

Andrew Wiggins added 25 points on 9-of-12 shooting off the bench as Golden State posted back-to-back wins for the first time since November 1 and 3. The victory was also just the sixth in the past 18 games for the Warriors.

Trayce Jackson-Davis scored 14 points and Jonathan Kuminga had 12 for Golden State, which beat the Trail Blazers for the eighth time in the past nine meetings.

Golden State star Stephen Curry scored just 7 points and missed all eight of his three-point attempts to see his NBA record of 268 consecutive games with at least one three-pointer come to an end. He was 2 of 12 overall.

Jerami Grant scored 30 points for Portland, which dropped its seventh straight game. Anfernee Simons added 24 points after going scoreless in the first half.

Scoot Henderson had 14 points, Shaedon Sharpe scored 12, and Toumani Camara had 11 for the Trail Blazers.

Portland never led in the contest but trailed 113-111 after Sharpe converted a three-point play with 39.1 seconds left.

Golden State’s Chris Paul answered with a 12-foot baseline jumper to make it a four-point margin with 20.9 seconds to play. Simons responded with a three-point play to bring the Trail Blazers within a point with 14.7 seconds remaining.

Curry split two free throws with six seconds left. Deandre Ayton collected the rebound and passed the ball to Sharpe, who was called for a charging foul as he slammed into Golden State’s Brandin Podziemski with 0.6 seconds left.

Podziemski was fouled with 0.3 seconds remaining and made two free throws to sew it up as the Warriors halted a seven-game road losing streak.

Thompson scored on a layup to start an 11-0 burst in the fourth quarter that saw Golden State take a 104-93 lead. Jackson-Davis capped the burst with a dunk with 5:11 remaining.

The Warriors shot 52.9% from the field, including 13 of 38 from three-point range.

Portland made 47.1% of its shots and connected on 13 of 35 from behind the arc.

Golden State led by 16 at halftime before Thompson scored the Warriors’ first 8 points of the third quarter to push their lead to 73-51 with 10:14 left in the quarter.

The Trail Blazers erupted by scoring 31 of the next 40 points to erase the 22-point deficit. Matisse Thybulle knocked down a three-pointer to tie it at 82 with 2:14 remaining in the quarter.

However, Golden State scored 7 of the final 9 points of the third quarter to hold an 89-84 advantage. – Rappler.com