Preseason play comes to an end Friday night as the Portland Trail Blazers (4-2) visit the Golden State Warriors (5-1) in a Western Conference Semifinal rematch at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
The two sides met four times in the regular season in 2015-16, with the Warriors claiming victory three times. Portland handed Golden State its worst defeat in nearly four years in its sole win versus the Warriors, a 137-105 triumph at Moda Center on February 19, behind a career-high 51 points from Oakland native Damian Lillard. In the playoffs, Golden State topped the Blazers in five games to advance to the Western Conference Finals.
During the preseason, Lillard leads the Blazers with nightly averages of 19 points and 3.7 assists. Lillard's partner in the backcourt CJ McCollum is second on the team with 13.3 points per game through the first six exhibitions.
Newcomer Kevin Durant sits atop the scoring chart with an average of 19.7 points per game in preseason, while Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry hold averages of 19.5 and 17.2 points per game, respectively.
Friday's tip-off is set for 7:30pm as Kevin Calabro and Lamar Hurd call the action with Brooke Olzendam courtside on CSNNW. Brian Wheeler describes the action from Oakland on Rip City Radio 620 and the Trail Blazers mobile app.