Warriors have growing Brandin Podziemski problem after beatdown from Trail Blazers

The Golden State Warriors have suffered their first loss of the season, having had their two-game winning streak snapped in a 139-119 blowout loss to the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center on Friday night.

While Jonathan Kuminga continued to impress with some highlight plays in another productive performance, the form of fellow youngster Brandin Podziemski continues to be a growing concern after a quiet display from the third-year guard.

Warriors have a Brandin Podziemski problem just three games into the season

After averaging 9.0 points on 30% 3-point shooting over back-to-back wins against the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets, Podziemski lost his starting role on Friday as Steve Kerr started Quinten Post alongside Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, Kuminga and Draymond Green.

When Podziemski did get into the game, he wasn't his usual effective self which may have been impacted by an early ankle issue. The 22-year-old had eight points and five rebounds in just over 22 minutes, shooting only 2-of-9 from the floor in a performance that drew the ire of Golden State fans who voiced their disappointment on social media.

Warriors insider Tim Kawakami spoke on Podziemski's stagnation following Thursday's stunning win over the Nuggets, stating that the former 19th overall pick "looks them same" rather than seeing any identifiable improvement.

"He looks the same. I don't want to say that in a mean way. There's always this, oh, fix this, and he's improved this, and he looks the same, which is, Steve Kerr loves it, and it helps them a lot often, but there was a reason why he wasn't there in the close, because he wasn't really moving the defense," Kawakami said on the Warriors Plus Minus podcast.

In fairness to Podziemski, there were very few positives to take from Golden State's performance on Friday as Portland put the Chauncey Billups controversy behind them to pour in 111 points in the final three periods.

Stephen Curry continued on from his hot close to Thursday's game with more mesmerizing shot-making as part of 16 first-quarter points, with the 2x MVP finishing with 35 in 27 minutes on 12-of-22 shooting from the floor and 7-of-14 from 3-point range.

Kuminga had one of the dunks of the early season over Trail Blazers center Donovan Clingan during the second-quarter, finishing with another 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists on 4-of-7 shooting while going a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line.

Beyond Curry and Kuminga it was fairly bleak viewing from a Warrior perspective, particularly defensively where they allowed the Trail Blazers to shoot 53.8% from the floor and 47.1% from 3-point range.

They'll now have the weekend off to regroup ahead of hosting the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, with Podziemski's form and role increasingly under the microscope following a rough start to the season.