Golden State Warriors defeat Portland Trail Blazers in season opener

The luster of the Portland Trail Blazers' preseason appearance at the Utah Jazz quickly faded Wednesday night at the Moda Center. The Golden State Warriors defeated the Blazers and ended the game with a 139-104 win midway through the third quarter.

The performance marked the largest season-opening loss in Portland franchise history and prompted Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups to talk about effort and focus after Game 1 of 82.

“They beat us in every way, man,” Billups said in the postgame press conference. “Every time there was a loose ball, they were the first team to get on the pitch. … They beat us to the ground after makes, after misses. Every single facet of the game – they beat us.”

The start of a new NBA season inherently brings optimism and fanfare, even for a team with low expectations like the Blazers. Fans can gather new players like promising striker Deni Avdija and lottery tip center Donovan Clingan. The fresh record shows potential. After a jubilant preseason finale — hey, maybe the Blazers have more juice than everyone thought.

Wednesday night was a hard slap in the face for all of that. A strong early refutation of hopes that this team could be more competitive than expected. A stark reminder of what is likely to happen this season. The Blazers won't play every game like this, but more losses are expected in what is expected to be another long season. Buckle up for 81 more.

“The first game of the season, I think we were maybe a little shocked,” said Avdija, who also said the team didn’t play with the same “edge” it did against Utah.

“We were probably too excited to tell the truth,” added starting center Deandre Ayton. “There was nervousness everywhere, man.”

The excitement led to a promising start. The Blazers took an early 10-3 lead behind several 3-pointers and an 0-9 start from their opponent. That scoring soon stalled, but Portland still kept Golden State and Stephen Curry's potent offense at bay. After the first quarter it was tied 21:21.

Then the experienced Warriors slowly overwhelmed the younger Blazers. The 3-pointers began to fall in groups from Buddy Hield and others as GSW went 20-48 overall on 3-pointers. The Blazers continually sent double teams to Curry. He and his teammates continually mixed up the double teams, leading to misses and open layups. Curry didn't play his best, but he still managed 17 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. The Warriors shot 51.6% from the field and had 38 assists.

“They really shared the ball. … Everyone was a threat driving to the rim and putting us in trouble,” Ayton said. “That really convinced us.”

One tie after another soon led to a 62-50 halftime deficit for Portland, which soon turned into a 95-67 deficit with 1:39 remaining in the third period. At that moment, after another Golden State fastbreak layup, Billups called a timeout as light boos descended from the upper rafters. The game ended early.

Both Ayton and Avdija complained about a lack of defensive communication as Golden State turned the Blazers around. “It was just really quiet,” Ayton said. As in previous preseason games, Billups had to contend with a lack of transition defense. On several occasions, Golden State players beat Blazers defenders on the floor for easy layups.

“In my opinion it was a lack of focus,” Billups said. “We talked about it. We knew that was a strength of theirs and it definitely paid off big time for them tonight.”

On offense, the story wasn't much better. Ayton, Jerami Grant and Anfernee Simons, arguably Portland's three best players, combined for 41 points on 16:42 from the floor. Portland shot 39.1% from the field and 23.5% on threes. Scoot Henderson led the team with 22 points, albeit in 7:18.

“I don’t think any of our players performed well in the game,” Billups said.

As harsh as it may sound, this line could be the consolation after the 35-point defeat. It's hard to win though no one has a good game, and that's pretty rare all on an NBA roster combined for a collective stinker. Billups also said this lack of effort deal is an anomaly after a strong camp and preseason.

“If I'm being honest, this is the first time in a month that I can tell you that we lack focus or that a team is playing harder than us,” Billups said.

The other consolation is that it's just a game. Ayton called the loss an “embarrassment” for a season opener, but also said the team would go back to the drawing board and take responsibility for the performance. Billups called it “disappointing” but also said it wasn't “the end of the world.” These are the best times to teach, the coach said.

Avdija reiterated similar points and said the team would view the loss as a “learning experience.” All three postgame speakers pointed out that it has been a long season and this is only the first night.

“I’m not overreacting to this loss,” Avdija said. “I'll be honest with you, it might look ugly. It may look like we’ve given up, but we’re not giving up.”

More game notes

• The season opener marked Terry Stotts' return to the Moda Center, where he served as the Blazers' head coach from 2012 to 2021. Stotts is now an assistant on Golden State's staff under head coach Steve Kerr. At Kerr's pregame media availability, I asked Kerr if he and Stotts looked back on their head coaching battles in the years when Stotts was in Portland. Here is Kerr's answer:

I think we met three or four times in the playoffs. We have had some discussions about some of these encounters. There's a reason I hired him. I always found his teams to be very well trained and well organized. I liked the offensive style. I think our vision of the game is similar in terms of player and ball movement, but they did some things differently than us and I wanted to incorporate some of those things into our team.

• Stotts' return came with a tribute video on the Jumbotron and a nice round of applause from the audience. Here's the end of that moment where you can see Stotts sending some love back to Portland fans.

• In his NBA regular-season debut, Clingan scored two points on 1-2 shooting, two rebounds, one block, one steal and one turnover in 13 minutes off the bench.
• Kris Murray (10 minutes), Rayan Rupert (17 minutes), Henderson (28 minutes) and Clingan were the four reserve players who saw the first rotation minutes. Jabari Walker (seven minutes) didn't get a chance until the end of the third quarter, when the Warriors' lead had increased to almost 30.