Warriors defense returns in 103-86 win over Portland

Jimmy Butler led the way with 24 points as Golden State stifled Portland to stay even with the pack in the Western Conference

Two nights after the Golden State Warriors gave up 38 4th-quarter points in a devastating loss to the San Antonio Spurs, the Dubs matched their stingiest defensive effort of the season in a 103-86 win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Jimmy Butler led the way with seven assists and 24 points, including an 11-for-11 performance from the foul line. Buddy Hield hit four three-pointers off the bench, Draymond Green had four steals, and Brandin Podziemski was +31 in his 30 minutes in a victory that wasn’t as close as the 17-point margin indicated.

Steph Curry had a quiet game with 14 points, five assists, and five steals, but his most important number was 27. That’s 10 minutes less than he had to play Wednesday against the Spurs, giving him a little more rest ahead of Sunday’s big season final against the Los Angeles Clippers.

That game is now a play-in for the play-in, after Team Ballmer nearly blew a nine-point lead in the final two minutes, but survived when DeMar DeRozan missed a game-winning three while being hip-checked by Ivica Zubac.

That means Sunday’s game is simple. Unless the Minnesota Timberwolves somehow lose to the Utah Jazz on Sunday, the winner of Warriors-Clippers finishes in sixth place. The loser hosts the No. 8 Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday.

The Warriors never trailed after the 1:28 mark of the first quarter, when Buddy Hield hit one of his three first-quarter triples to give the Dubs a 21-20 lead. He has 201 three-pointers on the season, the seventh time in Hield’s career he’s done that.

The Dubs closed the quarter on a 12-0 run, and two Butler free throws made it 14 straight points early in the second. The quarter was quite low-scoring at the beginning, with the Warriors winning the first four minutes by a score of 6-3. It opened up a little when Curry re-entered the game, as he and Quinten Post took turns passing to each other for three-pointers, giving Golden State their first double-digit lead.

Curry made two three-pointers in the quarter and assisted on two others, while Post scored seven of his 10 points in the period. Post had the last four points of the quarter as the Warriors went into the locker room up 50-37.

Any remaining doubt about the outcome was settled early in the third, when the Warriors went on a 9-0 run which was started by a personal 6-0 run from Moses Moody. He hit a three, then got three points the hard way on a drive to the hoop facilitated by an offensive rebound by Curry.

After Matisse Thybulle made a three, the Warriors responded with an 8-0 run. They took a 25-point lead on an alley-oop from Green to Butler.

After a 17-5 start to the quarter, the Warriors experienced an extended offensive lull that has become too common recently, briefly worrying fans who were having flashbacks of similar scoring droughts Wednesday. Thanks to some turnovers and some ill-advised deep threes, the Warriors didn’t score for over four minutes, until Jonathan Kuminga got himself to the foul line, stole the ball, and got himself to the line again.

The quarter ended with Butler scoring five points in the final 1:07 and assisting Kuminga on another basket to give the Dubs a 20-point cushion and full quarter of rest for Curry. The official scorer wrote “Night Night” on his program and the Warriors gave some court time to Braxton Key, Kevin Knox, Pat Spencer, and Gui Santos late.

So this Sunday is for all the marbles. Well, some of the marbles. Winner gets a guaranteed playoff berth and a guaranteed first-round matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers. If you believe the NBA and its officials rig games to get favorable TV matchups, then we should see Jimmy Butler getting to the foul line a lot, and Steph Curry might even get a foul call when someone knocks him down on a drive to the hoop. Joe Lacob should send Dick Bavetta courtside tickets just to reinforce the idea of another LeBron vs. Steph ratings bonanza.

Loser has to deal with Ja “The Human Hand Grenade” Morant, Three Six Mafia songs, a bunch of seven-footers and limited rest, all for the chance to play the Houston Rockets.

Al Davis said it best: Draft a Heisman Trophy winner at every opportunity. Wait, no, he said, “Just win, baby.” While it would have made things infinitely simpler to just win against the Spurs, the Warriors do control their own playoff destiny going into the season’s final day. Considering where they were at the end of January, that’s about all they could have hoped for.