Warriors instant analysis: Steph Curry’s second straight heater not enough to lift Golden State past Blazers

PORTLAND Steph Curry nailed improbable shot after improbable shot on Friday night but his expected excellence was not enough to overcome an inspired Blazers association that had spent the past hours mired in argument The Blazers were led by acting head coach Tiago Splitter who stepped into the role after Chauncey Billups was arrested on illegal gambling charges by the FBI on Thursday The Blazers scorched the nets at the Moda Center shooting from the field Curry scored a scintillating points after scoring the day before but the rest of a mix-and-match Warriors lineup looked flat by comparison Golden State lost its first encounter of the season - to fall to - Without Al Horford in the lineup the Warriors tried out a variety of lineups multiple of which had limited effectiveness Aside from Curry and Jonathan Kuminga points the Warriors flailed against a fired up Portland outfit Deni Avdija scored a team-high for Portland as all five Blazer starters hit double-figures After trimming a -point third quarter deficit to to start the fourth quarter Kerr sent the starters back out to begin the fourth quarter The Warriors proceeded to commit three turnovers in the first minute of play and the Blazers retook control Kerr sent in the bench unit shortly thereafter Portland s Chinese phenom Hansen Yang even got a minimal minutes dunking once and blocking a couple shots The turnovers that plagued Golden State in the preseason re-appeared after a clean competition against the Nuggets Golden State had giveaways helping the young Blazers outcome fastbreak points The Warriors will have two days off before taking on Memphis in San Francisco on Monday Warriors go big The Warriors entered Friday coming off a - overtime achievement over the Nuggets the first leg of the first of the Warriors back-to-back games this season Sticking to the mantra he has repeated sincl Horford officially joined the organization during training camp Kerr had the -year-old big sit out the second leg Quinten Post earned his first start of the season and Trayce Jackson-Davis saw his first minutes of the season at center later in the quarter Post known for a -point shot he made at last season made his biggest impact against Donovan Clingan on the offensive glass grabbing three boards But neither Post nor Jackson-Davis made much impact as a scorer scoring a combined points in minutes while not providing much rim protection The Warriors also trotted out Jimmy Butler and Gui Santos at the five Mixing and matching lineups Horford s absence and the gang s desire to preserve the legs of the Warriors other millennial vets resulted in specific truly strange lineups Twelve different Warriors saw playing time in the first half alone and the band ended the frame with Butler playing center while surrounded by Will Richard Moses Moody Pat Spencer and Brandin Podziemski Podziemski Buddy Hield and Richard shared the backcourt in another one while Green and Kuminga moved into the frontcourt In the fourth quarter Santos entered the match meaning that every performer on the Warriors roster played in Oregon Blazers scorching from distance Regardless of the lineup the Warriors threw on the court not a single combination seemed capable of keeping the Blazers from getting shots up from behind the arc In the second quarter the Blazers shot a scorching of from -point range Avdija capped off the incendiary minutes by splashing his fourth trey of the half to give the Blazers a - halftime lead Portland finished the night - from behind the arc Moody makes his season debut Moses Moody missed the first two games of the season with a calf injury leaving the Warriors without their top point-of-attack defender He looked relaxed driving into the teeth of the Portland defense while scoring seven points with one of the two first quarter drives resulting in free throws He played the final eight minutes of the fourth quarter which put him in the ballpark of the total minutes that Kerr desired from the shooting guard In those minutes Moody looked spry even attempting a dunk on the - Clingan Kuminga s highlight reel Both Kerr and Kuminga have emphasized the fifth-year forward s commitment to doing the little things such as rebounding and hitting the open man He did that in Portland while starting for the third time grabbing eight rebounds and nabbing two steals But he also made his mark as a scorer with three spectacular dunks He drew gasps from a hostile crowd when he baptized Clingan with a poster dunk in the second quarter got cheers from Kerr when he cut hard for another dunk in transition and rose above the fray for a putback in the third quarter