Two teams coming off physical affairs against the Detroit Pistons will hope for more of a free-flowing contest when the Portland Trail Blazers visit the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco on Monday night.
Having thumped the Trail Blazers 140-104 in Portland on Opening Night on Oct. 23, the Warriors will have a pair of advantages when trying to make it two straight this season against their West Coast rivals.
First, the Warriors have had a day off to soothe the soreness of a 56-total-foul, 115-110 home win over the Pistons on Saturday night. Golden State made 33 of 41 free throws in the win.
Plus, the Warriors are coming off a win, whereas the Trail Blazers were beaten 119-112 at home by Detroit on Sunday night.
There were 51 total fouls called in Sunday’s game, with Portland getting 32 trips to the free-throw line, making 25.
The Warriors’ win over the Pistons was the 11th in their 13 games since acquiring Jimmy Butler in a trade with the Miami Heat. Butler, whose aggressive style has been contagious to his new teammates, went 6-for-7 at the line. Stephen Curry made all 12 of his attempts.
The win came in the opener of a seven-game homestand. The Warriors had been on the road for 12 of 14 games dating back more than a month.
“I love the fact that we came off that long road trip, six-hour flight (from Brooklyn), 5:30 (p.m.) game against probably the most physical team in the league.” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Thrilled with just the competitive spirit, the energy, the effort that it took to win a key game. We knew it’d be tricky regardless with the travel, but especially against a team like that that’s playing so well and is so physical.”
The Trail Blazers faced the Pistons under similar circumstances Sunday. They completed a seven-game trip Sunday in Oklahoma City.
Portland was missing its top two centers — Deandre Ayton and Robert Williams — as well as one of its top rebounders, Deni Avdija, in the Detroit game. It’s possible Avdija, who returned from the road trip with a strained quad, will be able to go on the second night of the back-to-back on Monday.
The absences appear to set up a head-to-head between two of last year’s top collegiate centers, UConn’s Donovan Clingan and Boston College’s Quinten Post. Despite playing in close proximity the past two seasons, they never went head-to-head as collegians.
The Trail Blazers made Clingan the seventh overall pick of the 2024 draft. Post went 45 picks later.
Post has been the more prolific scorer in the early going — 8.2 points per game to 5.8 for Clingan — but Clingan said there’s more to basketball than putting the ball in the hoop.
“You just got to block shots, rebound the ball at a high level, set great screens for your guards, roll to the rim and be active,” said Clingan, a member of UConn’s championship teams the past two seasons. “Just be that same player for however minutes (I play).”
-Field Level Media
