Warriors Trounce Blazers, Tie Franchise Record with Double-Digit Scoring

It's been a little over a decade, but the Warriors had eight players in double-digit scoring for the first time since 2009, per Kendra Andrews of ESPN.

While facing a young Blazers squad without their superstar Damian Lillard, the Warriors took full advantage and routed the Blazers in a 132-95 win. The Splash Brothers led the way with 18 points, respectively.

Rookie forward Jonathan Kuminga gifted the effort with 17 points. Guard Jordan Poole continues his stellar season with 15 points. Wiggins, Looney, GP2 and Porter all had 10 points to contribute to the effort.

"My guys [are] making shots, making good cuts, finding the open space, and I got a lot of attention off screens and transition," Warriors' superstar Stephen Curry said. "Just trying to make the simple, easy plays, especially after the slow start."

Head Coach Steve Kerr always stressed the importance of hitting singles and not home-run plays. With the Blazers on a recent tear, it would've been easy for them to sneak up a win against the Warriors, but the Warriors had other plans.

To go along with his 18 points, Curry had 14 assists to help the cause. Sending double-teams and, at times, triple-teams is something that the Davidson product has become accustomed to in recent years. Still, with the return of Klay Thompson, teams realize that it's getting harder to continue that strategy.

"Steph was brilliant tonight," Kerr said. "They were trapping him, and he was getting the ball out, finding open cutters, creating four-on-threes for us all night. I love his patience and the way he ran the team tonight. He played a beautiful game."

The Blazers tried a unique strategy of executing a rare full-court press that flowed into a 1-2-2 zone to limit the Warriors' pacing. Though this strategy is common throughout the high school and college levels, the Warriors could break the press early and continue to be patient.

In classic fashion, the Warriors finished the game with 36 assists and remain almost unstoppable when they achieve their 30-assist mark.

"Find your spots and be confident when it comes back and knock it down," Curry said. "There are times where you can force the issue more, but this is just how the game goes."

With Draymond Green out for the foreseeable future, Kerr opted to start GP2 with similar defensive tenacity.

While Payton continued to disrupt the defense, seven of his 10 points came in the first quarter. He leads the NBA in field goal percentage in the paint with 78.3% and leads the NBA in PER 36 steals with 3.03.

"This is what we're capable of doing, and this should be the expectation," Curry said. "Now you gotta put that together over consecutive games."

As for Kuminga, the seventh overall pick rose to the occasion with 17 points. Kuminga remained aggressive and went 1-for-2 from 3-point range while the rest of his shots came from inside the paint.

With averages of 15.3 points, 4.4 rebounds while shooting 60% from the field, the seventh overall pick ranks 5th, 10th, and 3rd in those categories among rookies, respectively. He leads all rookies in dunks with 18 and has scored in double-digits in the last eight games.

"One of the reasons Bob [Myers] drafted him was because of that athleticism and that power," Kerr said. "It's something we haven't had a lot of. We had great talent, great skill, but to have that kind of power and explosiveness, it's added a different dimension to our team."

The Warriors look to continue their stellar play versus the Mavericks on Feb. 27.

(Photo credit: Craig Mitchelldyer / AP Photo)