Blazers vs. Warriors Preview

Feb 8, 2023 - 9:18 PM

Portland Trail Blazers (26-28) vs Golden State Warriors (28-26)

The Portland Trail Blazers take on the Golden State Warriors at home for the second game of a long five game home stand. The Blazers are coming into this game following two straight losses to the Chicago Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks.

The Warriors come into their lone road game on this trip after winning their last two games against the Dallas Mavericks and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Warriors vs. Trail Blazers - Wednesday, February 8 - 7:00 p.m. PT

How to watch on TV: Root Sports Plus, NBA TV, NBA League Pass

Blazers injuries: Justise Winslow (out), Ibou Badji (out), Jusuf Nurkic (out), Drew Eubanks (questionable), Keon Johnson (questionable)

Warriors injuries: Stephen Curry (out), Andre Iguodala (out), Ryan Rollins (out)

SBN Affiliate: Golden State of Mind

What To Watch For

Two different Warriors teams. The Warriors are one of the best teams in the league at home this season, where they sit an incredible 21-6. However, they are just 7-20 on the road. Luckily for the Blazers, this game is in Portland. Without Stephen Curry the Warriors margin for error gets much smaller, and having to face Portland on the road is just another factor working against them. The home crowd at Moda Center is always an advantage for the Blazers, and that advantage should be greater tonight.

Three point battle. The Blazers and Warriors are both inside the top ten in three pointers made and three point percentage. Obviously missing Curry hurts for the Warriors, but they are well equipped with other shooters that can do damage. The team better able to defend the arc could swing the outcome. With the Warriors missing possibly the greatest shooter of all time, the Blazers’ job gets that much easier. However, if they grow complacent they could still fall victim to a huge scoring output from Jordan Poole or Klay Thompson from the arc.

Defending passing lanes. The Warriors average 29.7 assists per game, which puts them first in the league. However, they rank 29th in turnovers per game. If the Blazers allow the ball to fly around the court like the Warriors want it to, it could lead to a lot of easy opportunities. If the Blazers are able to disrupt some passing lanes, however, they could end up with a lot of easy points in transition off of Warriors turnovers.

What Others Are Saying

Rick Mendoza of Golden State of Mind talked about how essential Jordan Poole was in the Warriors’ last win.

Although he didn’t have the absurd scoring outburst of Thompson, Warriors guard Jordan Poole still had a phenomenal all-around night of his own. Poole was in complete control of the game, balancing his 21 points scoring while getting his teammates involved for a career-high 12 assists.

CBS Sports’ Brad Botkin talked about the historic shooting night Klay Thompson had in his last contest.

On Monday, Jordan Poole and Klay Thompson led the way as the Warriors connected on 26 3-pointers, just one off the franchise record. Thompson accounted for 12 by himself, two off his single-game NBArecord of 14. He needed just 16 attempts. A 75-percent clip. Not bad.

It’s the ninth time in Thompson’s career that he’s made at least 10 3s in a game, which would also be an NBA record if not for Curry, who has done it 22 times. Curry and Thompson are the only players in history that have recorded multiple games with at least 12 3-pointers (they’ve each done it twice).