Ryan Rollins. Quenton Jackson. You can now add Caleb Love as another little-known guard who has torched the Golden State Warriors this season as the hosts suffered a disappointing 127-123 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers at Chase Center on Friday night.
The undrafted rookie averaged 5.6 points in his first seven NBA games this season, only to explode for a career-high 26 which included 11 in the final period. Love's pair of 3-pointers in the final 90 seconds sunk the Warriors to their third-straight defeat, and the worst possible start to a five-game home-stand.
Caleb Love is the latest little-known guard to obliterate the Warriors
Golden State had led for the majority of the first three-quarters, having been propelled by a vintage second-quarter from Stephen Curry who had 18 points to give his team a seven-point advantage at half-time.
Love and Deni Avdija took over in the fourth though, with the latter finishing with 26 points, six rebounds and 14 assists, while the visitors also got contributions from Donovan Clingan (22 points and 10 rebounds) and Toumani Camara (20 points on 4-of-6 3-point shooting).
The Warriors ultimately wasted another excellent Curry performance as the 2x MVP finished with 38 points on 14-of-23 shooting from the floor and 9-of-17 from 3-point range. He'd been ably supported by Brandin Podziemski in the first-half who had an efficient 13 points, before the third-year guard finish with 20 points and three assists in nearly 30 minutes off the bench.
Jimmy Butler had 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists in nearly 34 minutes, but the 6x All-Star shot just 5-of-15 from the floor. Golden State shot the ball well as a team at nearly 50% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc, while also recording seven less turnovers in the four-point loss.
However, Portland's size and athleticism ultimately wore down the Warriors over the final 15 minutes, having grabbed 21 offensive rebounds to nine while subsequently building up a huge differential in second-chance points.
The center position may remain a concern for Golden State as a result, particularly when Quinten Post and Al Horford shot just 1-of-8 from 3-point range in their 35 combined minutes on the floor.
The loss is even more disappointing when you consider the Trail Blazers were without starting guards Jrue Holiday and Shaedon Sharpe, leaving the Warriors as heavy favorites prior to tip-off.
The result also essentially knocks the Warriors out of the NBA Cup before the elimination stage, but more importantly they've been pushed back to a .500 record at 9-9 ahead of a game against the Utah Jazz on Monday.