McCollum, Blazers blitz Warriors from long range
Kelly Oubre Jr. #12 of the Golden State Warriors is guarded by CJ McCollum #3 of the Portland Trail Blazers at Chase Center on January 01, 2021 in San Francisco, California. Ezra Shaw/undefined/AFP
CJ McCollum led an early barrage of 3-pointers with four in the first nine minutes Friday night, helping the Portland Trail Blazers build a big early lead en route to a 123-98 victory over the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.
The clubs will meet again Sunday night, also in San Francisco.
Damian Lillard led all scorers with 34 points and McCollum totaled 28, helping the Trail Blazers improve to 2-1 on their four-game California road trip.
Stephen Curry had a team-high 26 points for the Warriors, who were making their season home debut.
Portland wasted little time taking control, with four starters — all except Lillard — combining to make the team’s first five 3-point attempts and accounting for the club’s first 15 points.
McCollum had four of the team’s seven treys in the first 8:12, during which the Trail Blazers went up 29-9.
Golden State got within 76-67 after a three-point play by Juan Toscano-Anderson in the fifth minute of the third quarter, but that’s when Lillard caught fire.
The product of Oakland High School across the bay bombed in three 3-pointers among 13 points in a 22-7 run that created a 98-74 cushion with 2:45 remaining in the third period.
Lillard finished 6-for-10 from 3-point range and McCollum was 4-for-11 as the Trail Blazers connected on 20 of 43 from beyond the arc (46.5 percent).
Carmelo Anthony contributed three 3-pointers to the long-range assault to account for half his 18 points. Anfernee Simons also dropped in three for all but two of his 11 points.
Lillard also found time for a game-high eight assists while Robert Covington grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to complement eight points.
Curry shot 4-for-12 on 3-point attempts. His teammates, however, added just three other 3-pointers on 23 attempts as the team finished at 20 percent from long range.
Andrew Wiggins backed Curry with 15 points while Eric Paschall had 13 and Kelly Oubre Jr. 10 for the Warriors, who had won two in a row.
Making his first appearance of the season, Draymond Green earned the start for Golden State and finished with four rebounds and four assists in 18 minutes. He failed to score, missing all three of his field-goal attempts, including two from 3-point range.
