The Portland Trail Blazers turned in another would-coulda-shoulda-didn’t effort against the Golden State Warriors at the Moda Center on Sunday evening. They played a fabulous defensive game against Warriors MVP Steph Curry, but couldn’t contain the ball in the middle of the floor, giving all the points Curry would have scored (and more) to his teammates. They rode 30 points from Jerami Grant and 24 from Anfernee Simons into a tight fourth-quarter dogfight, but couldn’t execute when the possessions became most critical.
After falling behind by 22 early, Portland clawed back to tie the game in the third and fourth periods, but couldn’t get over the hump, ultimately falling to the Warriors 118-114.