Golden State Warriors

Golden State Warriors

The Warriors were without most of their top players. Steph Curry (knee inflammation) and Draymond Green (back) were held out after being questionable earlier in the day. Without their best players and several others the Warriors fell to the Timberwolves 108-83 while suiting up only 10 players. Gui Santos had his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Brandin Podziemski had 12 points and seven rebounds.

The Warriors' shooting has reached historic new heights. In a league that has wholeheartedly embraced the long-range shot, no team in NBA history has shot the 3-ball as prolifically as Golden State has over the past week. Yes, that includes the dynastic Warriors teams with Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson all in their late-20s primes.

But on Tuesday nigh t, the Warriors - with some help from their opponent - added one of those records to their collection. Golden State routed the Blazers 119-97 at Chase Center, and when Quinten Post made his first 3-pointer of the night with 35 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, that set a new record for most players to make a 3-pointer in a single game with 21 according to Warriors director of statistical information Daryl Arata. .

If it feels as if Golden State plays Portland every few weeks, there is a reason for that. Counting the preseason, Golden State will be facing the Trail Blazers for the eighth time in the past 12 months. when the teams square off in a game with a rare 8 p.m. start time. Though they have played three times already this regular season, figuring out how to beat the Blazers is something Golden State has yet to do.

SAN FRANCISCO Steph Curry flew around the court and buried improbable, high arcing 3-pointers. Jimmy Butler used his smarts and muscle to carve out space for tricky shots and deft passes. And every other Warrior did . not much else on Sunday evening at Chase Center. Curry scored 31 and Butler poured in 30, but De'Anthony Melton (10) was the only other Warrior in double-figures as the Hawks beat the home team 124-11.

De'Anthony Melton knows that every backcourt partner of Steph Curry will, fairly or not, be compared to the Golden State standard set by Klay Thompson. The five-time All-Star was the starting shooting guard next to Curry for all four of the team's modern-day titles, providing defense and the perfect off-ball complement to Curry's dynamism. Melton, who is rounding into form after missing an entire year rehabbing from left ACL surgery, had plenty of time to study Thompson as he rehabbed.

One day after Steve Kerr was ejected for arguing multiple calls, the NBA asserted that officiating actually favored his Warriors down the stretch of their 103-102 loss to the Clippers. Kerr was thrown out after Gary Payton II's blocked layup was not called a goaltend, something the guard later called a missed call and came shortly after Curry's and-1 jump shot was waved off. Lead official Brian Forte later told pool reporter Tomer Azarly that Payton's layup should have been a goaltend,