Trail Blazers Game Notes: Trail Blazers vs. Warriors

Friday, October 15, 7:00 p.m. (Pacific)Chase Center, San Francisco, California

ALL TIME: Trail Blazers lead, 129-106PORTLAND HOME: Trail Blazers lead, 86-31GOLDEN STATE HOME: Warriors lead, 75-43LAST PORTLAND WIN: 108-106, 3/3/21 (Portland)LAST GOLDEN STATE WIN: 137-122, 1/3/21 (Golden State)CURRENT WIN STREAK: One (Portland)

• Friday's game is the second preseason meeting between the Trail Blazers and the Warriors. Golden State beat the Trail Blazers in Portland on Oct. 4, 121-107.

• Portland and Golden State will play three times during the regular season, with the first matchup occurring at Chase Center on Nov. 26.

• PREVIOUS MEETING: Golden State defeated the Trail Blazers in both team's preseason opener, 121-107, in Portland on Oct. 4.

• Damian Lillard led Portland with 19 points (6-8 FG, 5-7 3-PT, 2-2 FT), four rebounds and two assists in the first preseason meeting between the two teams.

• Jusuf Nurkic logged a double-double of 15 points (5-8 FG, 2-4 3-PT, 3-4 FT) and 10 rebounds to go with four assists against the Warriors on Oct. 4.

• Jordan Poole scored a game-high 30 points (10-17 FG, 7-13 3-PT, 3-3 FT) to go with five rebounds and five assists against Portland on Oct. 4.

• Stephen Curry scored 13 points (4-10 FG, 3-8 3-PT) in 20 minutes against the Trail Blazers in the first preseason meeting.

• CONNECTION: Portland guard Damian Lillard and Golden State forward Draymond Green were teammates on the 2021 US Men's national team that won the gold medal in Tokyo.

• CONNECTION: Portland forward/center Marquese Chriss played in 61 games (21 starts) for the Warriors from 2019-2020, post- ing averages of 9.2 points and 6.2 rebounds.

• CONNECTION: Trail Blazers guard Quinn Cook spent two seasons with the Warriors from 2017-19, averaging 7.7 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists. He won an NBA Championship with Golden State in 2018.

• LEADING THE WAY: The Trail Blazers hired Chauncey Billups as the 15th head coach in franchise history on June 27, 2021. Billups is making his debut as a head coach in the 2021-22 season. He spent the 2020-21 season as an assistant coach for the LA Clippers, helping lead the team to a 47-25 record and a trip to the Western Conference Finals.

• BACKCOURT BUCKETS: Anfernee Simons scored 24 points (8-20 FG, 1-9 3-PT, 7-7 FT) against the Kings on Oct. 11. He has topped 24 points three times in a regular season game in his career. His career high for free throws is four (seven times). Off the bench, Dennis Smith Jr. pitched in 18 points and seven assists in 26 minutes.

• CONSISTENT EXCELLENCE: Damian Lillard scored 19 points (6-8 FG, 5-7 3-PT, 2-2 FT) against the Warriors in Portland's first preseason game on Oct. 4. Lillard is one of two players (L. James) who has averaged at least 25.0 points in each of the last six seasons.

• DISRUPTIVE FRONTCOURT: Robert Covington and Jusuf Nurkic are two of the five NBA players that have averaged at least 1.00 steal and 1.00 block in each of the last two seasons. Covington is one of three players (A. Davis/A. Drummond) that have done so each of the past three seasons. Joining the Portland pair this season is forward Larry Nance Jr., who has averaged at least 1.00 steal in each of the last five seasons.

• RIGHT BACK AT IT: Damian Lillard (19 points, 5-7 3-PT), CJ McCollum (12 points, 2-4 3-PT) and Norman Powell (13 points, 2-5 3-PT) each played 18 minutes or less against Golden State on Oct. 4, but were back in their 2020-21 form. The trio are three of the 12 players that averaged at least 18.0 points and 2.5 three-pointers in 2020-21 while shooting better than 39.0% from the three-point-line.

• MANNING THE MIDDLE: Jusuf Nurkic logged a double-double of 15 points (5-8 FG, 2-4 3-PT, 3-4 FT) and 10 rebounds to go with four assists against the Warriors on Oct. 11. His two three-pointers were the most he has made in a game in his career (preseason, regular season and postseason).

Preseason Game #3 - Phoenix 119, Portland 74 — October 13, 2021, Footprint Center, Phoenix

Portland fell to 0-3 on the preseason with a 119-74 road loss to the Suns in Phoenix ... The Trail Blazers were held to 29.8% shooting from the field and 15.4% shooting from the three-point-line ... Damian Lillard led the way for Portland with 12 points (5-11 FG, 1-6 3-PT, 1-2 FT) to go with two rebounds and two assists ... Jusuf Nurkic had a game-high 13 rebounds to go with eight points and two steals ... Robert Covington scored 10 points and added six rebounds and three steals ... CJ McCollum had 10 points and four assists ... Dennis Smith Jr. had nine points to lead the Portland reserves, including seven free throws (of 10) ... Devin Booker paced the Suns with 17 points (6-10 FG, 3-6 3-PT, 2-2 FT) to go with three rebounds and one assist ... Deandre Ayton had eight points and 11 rebounds in 15 minutes of action.

Preseason Game #2 - Sacramento 107, Portland 93 — October 11, 2021, Moda Center, Portland

The Trail Blazers lost their second consecutive preseason game, 107-93, to Sacramento at Moda Center ... Portland was without eight rotation players ... Anfernee Simons led the way for Portland in his first start of the preseason, finishing with 24 points (8-20 FG, 1-9 3-PT, 7-7 FT), two rebounds, one assist and one block ... Dennis Smith Jr. came off the bench to add 18 points (7-9 FG, 2-3 3-PT, 2-3 FT), two rebounds and seven assists in 26 minutes ... Marquese Chriss added 10 points and four rebounds ... Greg Brown III led the Trail Blazers with nine rebounds while scoring six points in 20 minutes ... Jusuf Nurkic had five points, eight rebounds and three assists in 18 minutes of action ... Sacramento was led by Davion Mitchell, who finished with 20 points (7-12 FG, 6-9 3-PT), two rebounds and four assists ... Portland turned the ball over 27 times to Sacramento's 13 turnovers.

Preseason Game #1 - Golden State 121, Portland 107 — October 4, 2021, Moda Center, Portland

The Trail Blazers dropped their first game of the 2021 Preseason, 121-107, to Golden State at Moda Center ... Damian Lillard led the way for Portland in 18 first half minutes, finishing with 19 points (6-8 FG, 5-7 3-PT, 2-2 FT), four rebounds and two assists ... Jusuf Nurkic logged a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds to go with four assists and one steal ... Nurkic connected on two three-pointers (of four) ... Anfernee Simons had 10 points and six assists with no turnovers in 20 minutes off the bench ... Norman Powell scored 13 points (5-10 FG, 2-5 3-PT, 1-1 FT) to go with one rebound, one assist and one steal ... CJ McCollum had 12 points in 12 minutes ... Jordan Poole led the way for the Warriors, scoring 30 points (10- 17 FG, 7-13 3-PT, 3-3 FT) to go with five rebounds and five assists ... Stephen Curry had 13 points, five rebounds and five assists in 20 minutes.

Damian Lillard (rest), Anfernee Simons (right thumb sprain), Tony Snell (right foot sprain), Nassir Little (left hamstring strain) and Cody Zeller (nose fracture) are out for Friday's preseason game at Golden State.

For the Warriors, Jonathan Kuminga (right knee; patellar tendon strain), Klay Thompson (right Achilles tendon; repair) and James Wiseman (right knee; meniscus tear) are out.

Friday’s game can be seen locally on ROOT Sports with Kevin Calabro, Lamar Hurd and Brooke Olzendam calling the action. On the radio side, Travis Demers and Michael Holton will have the call on Rip City Radio 620 AM and on all of the stations of the Deschutes Brewery Trail Blazers Radio Network.