Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors came back from 18 points down vs the Portland Trail Blazers, while Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers lose against the Phoenix Suns in the NBA preseason.
Steph Curry led the Golden State Warriors to a resounding comeback against the Portland Trail Blazers after being down by as much as 18 and pulling off the victory, 118-111, at the Moda Center in Oregon on Tuesday night (Wednesday, Manila time).
Early in the second quarter, the Trail Blazers were ahead, 44-26, with 8:25 left in the half after an and-one opportunity from Shaedon Sharpe.
However, the Warriors slowly but surely chipped at the lead with key contributions from Curry and Quinten Post. They were able to rally to get within one, 56-57, after a Jonathan Kuminga dunk with 47 ticks left in the second.
At the halftime break, it was a five-point ballgame, 61-56.
Then it all reached a crescendo for Golden State in the third quarter where a pivotal 13-0 run gave them the 76-73 lead after a Curry layup with 4:28 left in the canto.
It was nip-and-tuck from that point on but the momentum was already on Golden State’s side as they controlled most of the offense. In the fourth quarter, broke away with a final 11-3 burst that had them ahead by nine, 112-103 with 3:36 remaining.
Curry finished with 28 points and was 12-of-13 from the charity stripe along with six rebounds, and five assists to pace the Golden State Warriors to victory. Post added 16 markers, five boards, one assist, one steal, and one block.
The win came even as Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green sat out the game.
Meanwhile, Sharpe paced Portland in the loss with 18 points.
Golden State improved to 3-1 in the preseason while Portland slid to 1-2.
Luka debut soured
Luka Doncic, meanwhile, was unable to steer the Los Angeles Lakers to victory as they fell against the Phoenix Suns, 113-104, at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Arizona.
Doncic played his first preseason game for LA and was a force with 25 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. However, it was not enough for LA as they fell to 1-3 in the preseason.
A pivotal third quarter where Phoenix outscored Los Angeles, 33-17, doomed the Lakers in the game.
The Lakers also had 18 turnovers which translated into 26 points for the Suns.
Jared Butler poured in a whopping 35 points to pace the Suns in the victory as he also flirted with the triple-double, tallying seven rebounds and nine assists to lead Phoenix to 3-1.
In the other game, the Denver Nuggets rode Nikola Jokic’s all-around game en route to a 124-117 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Jokic had 18 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists in the victory that set them at 3-1. The Bulls are touting an even slate at 2-2.
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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.