Field Level Media
26 Nov 2021, 14:40 GMT+10
Two teams that have been unbeatable of late at home duel on the Golden State Warriors' home floor when the Western Conference front-runners host the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night in San Francisco.
The Warriors will put a nine-game home winning streak on the line when they complete a three-game homestand that began with wins over the Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers.
They had to rally from 19 points down in the second quarter to dispense of the short-handed and road-weary 76ers on Wednesday, and they did so by scoring 62 of the game's final 95 points.
The resulting 116-96 win not only was Golden State's ninth straight at home by at least 10 points, but it was the first time they'd been down at least 19 and won by at least 20 in the same game since November of 2017 at San Antonio.
The win came one day after Klay Thompson participated in five-on-five drills at Warriors practice for the first time since suffering a ruptured Achilles injury last November.
With the pending return of Thompson and James Wiseman (torn meniscus), Golden State coach Steve Kerr insisted he's still very much in a one-game-at-a-time mode with his streaking club.
"I'm not doing it. Just being honest," Kerr said if he's been scripting a plan for the new look. "There's also no point because it's like when you watch a game and they go, 'If the playoffs started today, here would be the matchups.' That's great, but the playoffs don't start today. So same concept. Neither one of them is coming back this week or next week, so I'm not going to waste too much energy on it."
While -- and even before -- the Warriors have been winning nine straight at home, the Trail Blazers have been putting together a similar run on their home court. They've won all nine of their games in Portland since a 124-121 loss to Sacramento on Opening Night.
The problem is: They've been nearly identically unsuccessful on the road, losing eight of nine, including their last two.
Their only road win so far has come at Houston.
The Trail Blazers began a three-game trip with a 125-121 loss at Sacramento on Wednesday. On the eve of another San Francisco Bay Area homecoming, Damian Lillard warmed up with a 32-point, 10-assist double-double.
The former Oakland prep standout noted afterward the game wasn't lost at the offensive end.
"Defensively, when it came down to it, we weren't able to get the stops that we needed," he observed. "But the effort was there. We had some breakdowns. Made some mistakes."
Lillard has had his ups-and-downs on his old stomping grounds.
He had six 3-pointers and 34 points in a 123-98 win at Golden State on New Year's Day last January. But that was just his third win in 21 returns to Oakland/San Francisco, including an 0-7 run in playoff games.
Lillard and rival Stephen Curry have gone head-to-head 33 times in their career, with the Warriors prevailing in 15 of 23 regular-season duels and all 10 of their postseason clashes.
Curry countered with 26 points in the Jan. 1 loss last season, but he rebounded with 62 in a rematch in San Francisco two nights later, a game Golden State won 137-122.
--Field Level Media
Get a daily dose of Oakland Times news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Oakland Times.
More InformationStarting quarterbacks are mastering the sideline route this preseason. Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Mac Jones of the Patriots are ...
Chicago Bears wide receiver N'Keal Harry is expected to miss up to eight weeks recovering from surgery to repair a ...
New Delhi [India], August 11 (ANI): Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar congratulated all Indian chess players who won medals in ...
Whether you're booking a plane ticket at the last minute or looking to go to a lackluster preseason football game, ...
Of all the subjects taught in the nation's public schools, few have generated as much controversy of late as the ...
At least six journalists have faced prosecution for their professional work in the last month in Iran's western province of ...
ZAGREB, Croatia: Authorities have said that a weekend bus crash near Varazdin in Croatia killed 12 passengers and injured 32.The ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: The U.S. will participate in a joint military exercise in mid-October with India, less than 62 miles from ...
SEOUL, South Korea: South Korea has launched a domestically manufactured lunar orbiter that took off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space ...
MOSCOW, Russia: A leading Russian scientist in the field of hypersonic flight, Dr. Alexander Shiplyuk, has been arrested on suspicion ...
LOS ANGELES, California: During a meeting that was disrupted by protesters this week, the Los Angeles City Council voted to ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: The U.S. Justice Department announced this week that former Puerto Rico governor Wanda Vazquez has been arrested in ...