Stephen Curry’s return from a five-game absence due to a left quadriceps injury was a rousing success, but it didn’t stop the Golden State Warriors’ woes.
The Warriors continue to mix in mediocre performances and have lost seven of their past 11 games entering Sunday night’s clash against the host Portland Trail Blazers.
Curry poured in 39 points in 32 minutes in his first action since Nov. 26. He made six 3-pointers and collected five rebounds and five assists in the 127-120 home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“He looked great,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Just the movement, the flow. I asked him how he was feeling after the first eight-minute run in the first quarter, and he said, ‘I feel great.'”
Curry was at his best late in the contest when he scored 14 points in the fourth quarter.
“Started to feel normal again,” Curry said. “So individually, it was a good first game back just to get my lungs back and feel like myself.”
While Curry was thriving, the Warriors were outscored 39-29 in the final stanza to see Minnesota rally for the victory. The Timberwolves staged the comeback despite star guard Anthony Edwards missing the contest.
Golden State was without frontcourt players Draymond Green (personal reasons) and Al Horford (sciatica), and that led to defensive issues in the interior.
“Draymond and Al understand how to make their impact, make their presence felt,” Curry said. “But we didn’t have them. We had to figure out a way to get it done. We just didn’t.”
Golden State aims to rebound against Portland, and even that could be problematic.
After beating the Trail Blazers nine consecutive times, the Warriors have dropped both meetings this season. Golden State was whipped 139-119 in its Oct. 24 visit to Portland despite Curry scoring 35 points.
However, the Trail Blazers have lost three straight and six of their last seven. Portland ended a 1-4 road trip by losing 119-96 to the Memphis Grizzlies and 143-120 to the New Orleans Pelicans.
New Orleans had lost seven straight before hammering the Trail Blazers on Thursday.
Portland had just 10 available players as big men Donovan Clingan (bruised left leg) and Robert Williams III (illness) were among the players joining guard Jrue Holiday (right calf strain) on the sidelines. Holiday has missed the last 13 games and the Trail Blazers are 3-10 without him.
Reserves Sidy Cissoko (career-high 20 points in 32 minutes), Ryan Rupert (14 points) and Caleb Love (nine) all played 20-plus minutes off the bench.
“Everybody during the season gets an opportunity,” said backup Duop Reath, who played 12 minutes. “You’ve got to be ready to take advantage of that opportunity and be ready at that moment.”
Shaedon Sharpe led Portland with 21 points and made 4 of 6 shots from 3-point range. But sidekicks Deni Avdija (5 of 15) and Jerami Grant (6 of 19) had poor shooting nights while scoring 16 points apiece.
Love, a rookie, missed all five of his 3-point attempts and is 0-for-11 over the last three games. But interim coach Tiago Splitter knows Love won’t be thrown off by the mini-slump.
“Caleb is one of those guys that has extreme confidence,” Splitter said. “He thinks he’s always open, almost too much. … Not afraid of any moment.”
Love’s best game of the season came in a 127-123 road victory over the Warriors on Nov. 21. He made six 3-pointers and had 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
