Trail Blazers vs. Warriors: Score, Highlights, Reaction from 2017 Regular Season

The Golden State Warriors (31-5) figured to cruise past the Portland Trail Blazers with Damian Lillard (ankle) out for a fifth straight game Wednesday night, but that wasn't the case, as the defending Western Conference champions were forced to match the Blazers shot-for-shot in a 125-117 shootout win at Oracle Arena. 

Golden State's winning streak stretched to four games, while the Blazers (15-22) have now lost eight of their last 10 dating back to Dec. 15.  

Warriors guard Stephen Curry led the charge with 35 points on 12-of-25 shooting (5-of-13 from three), five assists and seven rebounds, and the effort marked the first time that he eclipsed the 30-point mark in a game since Dec. 13 against the New Orleans Pelicans. 

According to ESPN Stats & Info, the Warriors have been unbeatable over their past 25 games when Curry tops 30 points: 

Kevin Durant—who finished a team-best plus-22 in 37 minutes—added 30 points on 9-of-16 shooting to go with five boards and three blocks.

And as ESPN.com's Ethan Strauss observed, the Warriors embraced a new schematic approach in pick-and-rolls to get their lethal scorers open for clean looks:  

Draymond Green flirted with a second straight triple-double (9 PTS, 7 REB, 11 AST) in the win, while Zaza Pachulia (13 points) and Klay Thompson (14 points) both served as effective supplementary options. 

C.J. McCollum funneled home 35 points (13-of-31 shooting) for a team that needed to compensate for Lillard's absence, and he set the tone on a night when the Blazers shot 46.2 percent from three overall. 

Blazers PR on Twitter offered some context behind McCollum's scoring explosion: 

Despite McCollum's showcase, the Blazers ran out of steam late even though they were able to weather an early storm that saw the Warriors record their eighth 40-point quarter of the season in the opening frame. 

After avoiding disaster in the first, the Blazers erupted for 37 points in the second quarter to take a two-point edge into halftime thanks to McCollum's scoring savvy. 

McCollum—who drained tough shot after tough shot with defenders in his face—finished the first half with 26 points on 10-of-19 shooting. To put those figures in perspective, McCollum entered Wednesday's meeting averaging 22.9 points per game. 

NBA analyst Nate Duncan broke down the traits that make him such a tough cover:

The Warriors weren't without sweet shooting of their own, and Durant did the heavy lifting to the tune of 21 first-half points, including three in transition to cap off a sensational first-quarter sequence that started with a pair of blocks: 

With the gap a mere bucket at the break, the Warriors dodged danger and came alive in the third quarter.

They ramped up their defensive intensity and scaled back turnovers, a combination that allowed the home team to reclaim the lead and hold on to it as they limited McCollum to two points in the third period. 

And while McCollum's scoring surge slowed, Curry broke out some of his flashiest moves, as the NBA documented on Twitter: 

Golden State led by seven through three after four fouls forced McCollum to the bench with 5:26 remaining in the quarter, and that margin gave the Warriors enough breathing room to escape on a night when defense was in short supply. 

The Warriors will now turn their attention to the Memphis Grizzlies, who are scheduled to pay the Bay Area ballers a visit Friday evening. 

The Blazers, though, will be right back at it Thursday when they travel back home for a meeting with the Los Angeles Lakers at the Moda Center (10:30 p.m. ET on TNT). That will present McCollum and Co. with a nice opportunity to snap out of their slump. 

Postgame Reaction

Anthony Slater of the Bay Area News Group passed along video of Curry explaining how he's found his groove a bit more over the past couple of weeks: 

Speaking of clutch scorers, head coach Steve Kerr discussed Durant's performance following another efficient display, as 95.7 The Game showed: 

Elsewhere, McCollum and Blazers head coach Terry Stotts broke down the loss and how the team can improve moving forward: 

"I felt like we were right there, right until the end," Blazers center Mason Plumlee said, according to CSN Northwest.