Takeaways from Warriors' Loss to Blazers: Dubs Must Make Trade Before Season Spirals

Stephen Curry had 48 points, but it wasn't enough as the Golden State Warriors (13-14) lost to the Portland Trail Blazers (10-16) 136-131 on Sunday at Moda Center.

Curry made 12 threes in a game for an NBA-record fifth time in his career. He also scored 40-plus points for the 45th time since turning 30 years old, surpassing Michael Jordan in that stat to become the sole leader.

Shaedon Sharpe and Jerami Grant each had 35 points as the Blazers shot 20-of-39 from three.

Here are three takeaways from Sunday's game.

Warriors Need a Trade

Curry hit a three and then had a driving layup on consecutive possessions to give Golden State a five-point lead with 2:30 left. Once again, the Warriors collapsed from there, as they have had disastrous results in clutch games this season.

The Blazers started their closing run with a Grant three. Deni Avdija ran a pick-and-roll with Donovan Clingan, and Avdija found Grant with a bit of space because Draymond Green got caught sinking too far for fear that Clingan would get an easy basket.

The next possession, Brandin Podziemski got called for a moving screen as Curry was relocating to the wing for a three.

Then Avdija rejected the screen, drove right by De'Anthony Melton and scored on Green in the paint for an easy and-1.

Curry hit another go-ahead three the next possession.

Then Avdija went around Melton again and dropped it off to Grant for another and-1.

The Blazers scored nine points in three possessions to regain the lead, and they never lost it.

I wrote all this out because two things stood out in that stretch. First, Melton (6'2") is a good defender, but he's not meant to be guarding 6'8" future All-Stars like Avdija. Second, if Melton is gonna be put in these positions all the time, then you'd want an elite rim protector on the floor so you don't give up two easy and-1s that cost you the game.

The ironic thing is the Warriors are usually a good defensive team for the first three-and-a-half quarters—even after Sunday, they are fifth in defensive rating, per Cleaning the Glass. But they are getting exposed in clutch situations because they don't have a dynamic wing defender or an elite rim protector.

They need a trade. Herb Jones (6'7") is an ideal wing defender. Myles Turner (6'11") is an ideal rim protector. Ivica Zubac (7'0") is another great rim-protecting option.

To acquire any of them they'll need to trade Jonathan Kuminga, and they can't do that until Jan. 15. Maybe the Warriors can keep it together enough for a month. But the sooner they make a trade to fix one of these issues, the better off they'll be.

Green's Biggest Weakness Is Haunting the Warriors

In the first six-and-a-half minutes of the third quarter, Curry hit four ridiculous three-pointers and missed just one shot. During that stretch, Curry was so hot that the game should have been extremely easy for his teammates.

Somehow, Green fell apart in that same stretch.

First, Green threw a pass in transition that Sharpe stole easily, which led to a Portland dunk.

Next, Green tried to hit Quinten Post in the dunker's spot, but his pass was read easily again by Sharpe. That led to two Portland free throws.

Green then drove baseline, stopped, and tried to throw it to Post on the wing, but right as he threw it, Post cut. Another turnover.

A few possessions later, Green drove baseline and got bumped before taking a wild shot. Post actually rebounded the miss and scored, but Green had to yell at the refs anyway for not calling a foul, and Green got T'd up.

Lastly, Green tried to get a rip-through foul 35 feet from the basket. Sharpe picked up the ball for the easiest steal of the night, and the Blazers got a dunk seconds later.

To recap, in the first 6:30 of the third quarter, Curry was 4-of-5 for 12 points, two assists, one steal and no turnovers. In that same stretch, Green was 0-of-2 with zero points, one assist, one steal and four turnovers. The Warriors only won that stretch by three points even though Curry played nearly perfect basketball.

Just as badly as the Warriors need a trade, Green has to figure out the turnover issues. He had eight turnovers Sunday. It's killing the team.

Warriors Need Butler More Involved

Understandably, the Warriors went to Curry over and over again down the stretch, and it mostly worked. Defense was the bigger issue in this game.

With that said, Jimmy Butler finished the game 3-of-11 from the floor. The Warriors didn't call any plays for him down the stretch.

On some level, it's on Butler to be more aggressive. But I think Kerr and the coaching staff need to be more intentional about getting Butler the ball to be a scorer.

Near the end of the first half, Sidy Cissoko was being physical with Butler, and it worked for a few possessions but also clearly lit a fire under Butler. He responded by aggressively hunting Cissoko every chance he got. He got rewarded with four free throws, but more importantly, the offense looked better when Butler was being aggressive and hunting the mismatch. It simplified everything, which can help the Warriors, especially when they are turning it over.