The Golden State Warriors, if anything else, are actually building some momentum going into the All-Star break, having won two straight prior to Thursday night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Oracle Arena.  They got solid efforts from Corey Maggette, Stephen Jackson and Monta Ellis, with Ellis hitting some clutch baskets late in the game; Golden State would hold on to beat Portland 105-98, winning their third straight game.

The Warriors had an easy time of it in the first half as they held a comfortable lead over the Trail Blazers; they would go into halftime with an 11-point lead.  They would extend their cushion to 18 heading into the fourth quarter.  Despite their offensive sluggishness, Portland would manage to stay to within 89-84 following a 3-pointer by Rudy Fernandez and a jumper by LaMarcus Aldridge.  But Ellis would score to stop the run.

He would later add a pair of jumpers to give Golden State a 95-86 lead; however, the Blazers gave it one more try as Fernandez’s breakaway dunk cut the Warriors’ advantage to 95-91 with 51 seconds left in the game.  The Blazers would pull to within 97-93 on a Greg Oden dunk with 25 ticks left on the game clock, but Golden State would seal the win with 8 free throws in the final 23 seconds.

Golden State’s high scorer was Maggette from off the bench with 24 points, 5 rebounds, an assist and a steal while Ellis and Jackson added 20 apiece – with Ellis grabbing 2 rebounds, dishing out 3 assists along with 3 steals while Jackson grabbed 4 rebounds, dished out 6 assists along with a steal and 2 blocked shots.  Ronny Turiaf notched his first double-double in two years as he scored 14 with 11 rebounds.

Portland was led by Brandon Roy with 37 points (including 3 treys), 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals while Aldridge added 20 with 3 rebounds, an assist and 2 blocked shots but committing 5 turnovers; Travis Outlaw grabbed 12 boards in a losing effort.  With both teams heading into the All-Star break, Golden State (19-35) will play again on Wednesday, February 18, when they host the Los Angeles Lakers while Portland (32-20) returns home to host the Memphis Grizzlies – also on Wednesday.