Golden State @ Portland preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 4, 2019 ) Portland 118, Golden State 127

The Golden State Warriors and the Portland Trail Blazers faced off in the Western Conference finals last spring but neither team would make the playoffs if the season ended today, and one would have the best odds at picking at the top of the draft. The Warriors will try to become the final team in the NBA to earn a sixth win when they visit the Trail Blazers on Monday.

Golden State breezed past Portland in four games en route to its fifth straight trip to the NBA Finals last spring but is a much different team in 2019-20 and enters Wednesday riding a four-game losing streak after forcing Sacramento into 29 turnovers and still losing 100-79 on Sunday. "We made a million mistakes ourselves," Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters. "I've never seen a box score like this where we forced 29 turnovers and lost by 21 points. It's almost impossible to do that. It shows you how poorly we played. Our decision making was awful. One turnover after another, and then defensively we went under screens on great shooters. All kinds of mistakes. Very little communication. It was an embarrassing loss." The Trail Blazers come into the meeting five games under .500 but have some momentum after overcoming a 16-point deficit in a 111-110 win at Phoenix on Monday. "Second half we got stops," Portland guard CJ McCollum told reporters. "We played better defensively, held them to 21 points in the third quarter and that was huge for us and we got back into the game. Fourth quarter we got stops and got a string of three in a row six or seven times and that was basically the game."

TV: 10 p.m. ET, NBCS Bay Area (Golden State), NBCS Northwest (Portland)

ABOUT THE WARRIORS (5-23): Draymond Green is the lone All-Star remaining from Golden State's golden days with Stephen Curry (broken hand), Klay Thompson (knee) and Kevin Durant (free agency) gone, and he is trying to guide his young teammates through some growing pains. "Inconsistency," Green told reporters of what's plaguing the team. "It's frustrating. There're not really many other ways to put it. ... It's tough. It's really tough." Green posted a triple-double in a 124-122 overtime loss to the New York Knicks last Wednesday but slumped to seven points, three assists and two rebounds in Sunday's setback.

ABOUT THE TRAIL BLAZERS (11-16): Portland star Damian Lillard capped a 27-point effort on Monday with the decisive three-point play and was happy with how his team turned defense into offense. "Our hands were more active, we got some deflections and got out and anytime a team plays how they were playing, getting it out quick and they're playing at a fast pace in transition, they have a hard time getting back in transition," Lillard told reporters. "We got some deflections; we got some stops and we were able to push it at them and catch them off balance." The Trail Blazers got an offensive boost from forward Carmelo Anthony, who scored 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting in his second consecutive solid shooting night following a three-game slump.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Warriors rookie PF Eric Paschall (hip) sat out Sunday and is day-to-day.

2. Trail Blazers C Hassan Whiteside recorded a double-double in each of the last seven contests.

3. Golden State earned a 127-118 win over Portland at home on Nov. 4 behind 34 points and 13 rebounds from Paschall.

PREDICTION: Trail Blazers 119, Warriors 102