PORTLAND -- The Portland Trail Blazers gave the Golden State Warriors all they could handle in the first half. Damian Lillard had it going on the offensive end, and while the rest of the team wasn't exactly lighting it up from the field, Warriors guard and reigning MVP Stephen Curry had just five points after the first two quarters, which made for a relatively close game.
Then the third quarter happened.
Stephen Curry scored 23 of his 28 points in the third quarter, helping the Warriors outscore the Trail Blazers 41-20 on the way to a 127-104 blowout victory in front of a sellout crowd of 19,393 at the Moda Center Tuesday night.
“Well I liked the way we started the game," said Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts. "I thought we played with a lot of energy, we moved the ball, we made shots, we defended well and their bench, especially (Ian) Clark, came in and made a difference – a 17-2 run at the end of the first quarter. It kind of took the wind out of our sails, but Curry was great in the third quarter and they pulled away. It’s a good measuring stick. They’re an excellent team and they showed that tonight.”
The Trail Blazers are now 2-2 on the season and 1-1 at the Moda Center.
The first quarter had the feel of a game against the Warriors, with both teams running and gunning from the opening tip. Lillard would continue where he left off in Saturday night's game, going 5-of-8 from the field and 2-of-4 from three for 13 first-quarter points.
Usually, Lillard hitting at that clip combined with the likes of Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant being held relatively in check would be a recipe for a great quarter for the home team. But Golden State reserve Ian Clark entered the game early and hit his first shot. Then his second. Then his third. By time the quarter was over, the 6-3 guard out of Belmont had 11 points in less than six minutes to lead the Warriors to a 34-25 first-quarter lead.
"(Clark) had a great preseason, so this didn’t shock me," said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr. "He can play, he can shoot and we’ve got a lot of other guys that can shoot, so he’s going to have some openings. Defenses are not going to pay that much attention to him, so he can take advantage. He was great tonight."
But Clark couldn't do it by himself. So with the Warriors continuing to struggle from the field in the second, along with Evan Turner going 4-of-4 from the line and 2-of-2 from the free throw line for 11 points in the quarter, the Trail Blazers were able to cut the Warriors lead to 59-53 by the intermission.
Though that would be as close as Portland would get thanks to a combination of Curry's shot-making and Golden State's suffocating defense. The reigning MVP would go 8-of-12 from the field and 5-of-6 from three in the third to outscore the Trail Blazers by himself in the quarter.
"They were physical on defense, they had active hands," said Lillard of the Warriors. "Makes and misses, they pushed it out, they screened for each other. They played their game. In the first half, we were right there. In the second half, they stuck with it. Their defense was more consistent than ours, and their offense was more freely than ours was. We needed to have more of a presence. I think he was right, it shows what we need to do better to be able to stay in a game like that.”
The Warriors would eventually push their lead to 35 in the fourth quarter before both teams put in their deep benches to finish out the game.
The Trail Blazers were led by Lillard, who scored 22 points in the first half before finishing with 29 points on 8-of-19 shooting from the field, 4-of-10 from three and 11-of-13 from the line. The 6-3 guard out of Weber State also added an assist, a rebound and a steal in 31 minutes.
CJ McCollum snapped out of a mini, early-season shooting slump to go 6-of-12 from the field for 16 points, four rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes. Turner turned in his best shooting game of the season, going 5-of-6 from the field for 14 points, two assists and a rebound in 20 minutes.
One of the highlights of the game came in garbage time, with rookie forward Jake Layman scoring 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 shooting from three in just eight minutes of play.
"It was exciting to be out there for the first time," said Layman. "It wasn't fun being down 30, but just excited to be out there and be aggressive early."
It was the first time the 6-9 forward out of Maryland saw time in a regular season NBA game. WIth the performance, he became only the second player in NBA history to make at least five threes in his NBA debut.
"He was great," Lillard said the rookie from Maryland. "It was bittersweet that it was a blowout game, but it was fun to watch because you see him hit those one-dribble pull-ups in practice, hitting threes -- super-athlete. It was fun to see the crowd get excited behind it. It was a bright spot for tonight."
The Warriors had three players score at least 20 points Tuesday night, with Curry going for 28, Kevin Durant adding 20 and reserve Ian Clark, who kept Golden State in the game early with his shooting, finished with 22 points on perfect 8-of-8 shooting in 25 minutes.
Next up, the Trail Blazers hit the road for their first extended road trip and their first back-to-back of the year versus the Suns Wednesday night in Phoenix.
"It’s going to be a good test for us early," said Lillard of the three-game trip. "We won two, lost two. It’s going to be a tough trip but a fun one. We should be excited about the opportunity to get back out there tomorrow after the type of game we had tonight.”
Tipoff is scheduled for 7 pm.