In a dominant performance to kick off the new NBA season, Stephen Curry led the Golden State Warriors to a commanding 139-104 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night. The Warriors, who missed the playoffs last year, started the 2024-25 campaign with a bang, showing a renewed sense of determination and fluidity under the leadership of Curry and their retooled coaching staff.
Curry narrowly missed out on a triple-double, finishing with 17 points, 10 assists, and nine rebounds before sitting out the entire fourth quarter as the game was well in hand. His playmaking was particularly evident, with Curry racking up seven assists in the first quarter alone. That moved him past NBA legend Clyde Drexler into 38th place on the league’s all-time assists list.
Here is the video:
Steph Curry with the SMOOTH dime to Buddy Hield for the and-1 😤pic.twitter.com/wmKT1srmts
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 24, 2024
The Warriors had plenty of help from their bench, with Buddy Hield chipping in 22 points. Hield's hot shooting gave Golden State the scoring boost it needed to pull away after a somewhat shaky start. Portland led by as many as nine points in the first quarter, but the Warriors quickly recovered, building a 62-50 lead by halftime.
Curry wasted no time putting a stamp on the second half, sinking a 3-pointer to open the third quarter, and the Warriors never looked back. At one point, they stretched their lead to as much as 37 points, completely outclassing Portland on both ends of the court. Portland’s offense was led by Scoot Henderson, who had 22 points off the bench, but their efforts were hampered by the absence of Shaedon Sharpe, who missed the game due to a shoulder injury.
Portland crowd paid tribute to Stotts!
One of the game’s interesting side notes involved former Trail Blazers head coach Terry Stotts, who is now an assistant for the Warriors. The Portland crowd paid tribute to Stotts in the first quarter with a video presentation, and Stotts responded by saluting the fans.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr praised Stotts' impact on the team, saying, “We’re more organized this year than we’ve been in the past. Terry has been a huge part of that.” Not surprisingly, the fiery Draymond Green earned the Warriors’ first technical of the season after an intense exchange with referees late in the first half.