SAN FRANCISCO – The Warriors were all too familiar with the events unfolding in the third quarter of Tuesday evening’s matchup against a Trail Blazers team missing both starting wings.

Carry a big lead into the intermission. Watch as a sluggish start gives the other team the opportunity to come back. A rock fight in the fourth.

But after a scare in the third quarter, the Warriors flipped the script, asserted control and cruised to a 119-97 victory over Portland to conclude the first half of the regular season.

De’Anthony Melton was once again spectacular as a scorer, knifing into the paint for layups with a quick first step and burying four 3-pointers with a confident jump shot. He put up 23 points, making it four consecutive games in double figures. Steph Curry scored just seven points, only his second game with under 10 points this season. But he chipped in 10 assists to keep the Warriors offense rolling.

Brandin Podziemski had 15 points and Jimmy Butler scored 16.

The Warriors led 67-61 at halftime after making 23 of 46 shots, compared to Portland’s 15 of 42 rate. With star Deni Avdija out with a back injury and Jerami Grant also in street clothes, Portland had no halfcourt playmaker to break down the Golden State defense.

Meanwhile, the Warriors made 13 of 31 shots from behind the arc in the first 24 minutes, a number that could have been considerably higher had Steph Curry not gone 1 of 6.

The Blazers began the third quarter on a 19-5 run, with Toumani Camara’s 3-pointer cutting the Warrior advantage to 12 in five minutes.

A Gary Payton II layup off a Curry pass, a Curry pullup triple and a Butler dunk off – you guess it – a Curry assist pushed the lead back to 79-60 in the next minute. The Warriors led 24 by the end of the third quarter after Brandin Podziemski buried one last triple.

The Warriors (22-19) will play host to the Knicks on Thursday.

Breaking out of 3-point slump

The Warriors proved that shooting momentum does not carry from one game to the next. They were coming off one of their worst performances of the season, having shot just 10 of 42 from behind the arc in a 124-111 loss to the Hawks.

Tuesday was the total opposite as the Warriors made 23 of 58 3-point shots. They made 8 of 15 in the first quarter alone as everyone from Moses Moody to Draymond Green made the Blazers pay for playing deep drop coverage on almost every kind of action.

Moody passes GM

Moses Moody made four 3-pointers against a Blazers team that seemed resigned to giving up as many wide open jumpers as Golden State wanted. But it was his first make, from the left corner with 5:54 left in the first quarter, that gave him bragging rights over a team executive.

Moody’s make gave him 364 for his career, moving him into 12th place on the Warriors all-time leaderboard. The man he surpassed?

Current general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr., who played five seasons in the Bay Area after being selected No. 3 overall by the team in 2002.

Shorthanded Blazers

The Warriors entered Tuesday with an almost-completely clean bill of health, with only deep reserve Seth Curry ruled out with sciatica for the 18th consecutive game.

The Blazers were far less fortunate. All-Star hopeful and certified Warriors killer Avdija (26 points, 6.9 assists per game) was out with lower back soreness, while Grant (20 ppg) also sat with Achilles tendonitis. Rookie center Hansen Yang, who enjoyed support from a sizeable contingent of Chinese fans at Chase Center, left the game in the fourth quarter with a leg injury.

Oakland native Damian Lillard also did not play as he is out the entire year while rehabbing from a torn Achilles.

©2026 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at mercurynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.