The Warriors had a comfortable enough cushion to pull the starters in the fourth quarter for the second straight game. With four minutes left, coach Steve Kerr used his entire bench to help the Warriors defeat the Portland Trail Blazers 126-106 on Saturday night. Golden State, now 15-14, has won five straight games and crossed the.500 mark.

Portland’s 11-point lead in the first quarter—which was sparked by the Warriors’ seven first-quarter turnovers—was offset by Klay Thompson’s explosive third quarter. By the beginning of the fourth quarter, Thompson had turned an 11-point lead into a 12-point lead after scoring 11 points in a row during a 13-point quarter, which included three 3-pointers. He shot 6-of-10 from three and 11-for-16 from the field to finish with a team-high 28 points.

The Warriors reversed their habit to blow large leads after halftime, outscoring the Trail Blazers 34–16 in the third quarter. The team’s 38 assists show that both the starters and the bench put in a full effort to drive the pace and engage a number of scorers.

In his 32 minutes, Brandin Podziemski recorded a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds, enough for a team record plus-25. Chris Paul recorded 11 assists in 27 minutes, marking his third consecutive game with ten or more. Together with Jonathan Kuminga and Trayce Jackson-Davis near the basket, the two danced to find Curry, cold from three, for 27 points on 11-of-18 from the field.