Blazers Open Preseason With Win Over Warriors

The Portland Trail Blazers kicked off their preseason schedule on Wednesday night and earned a 123-118 victory over the Golden State Warriors at home in front of their own fans. This was an exciting game for a number of reasons, as it was the first chance for Damian Lillard to return to action in Portland, Ja Morant to wear his new threads in front of the home crowd, and Micah Nori to make his coaching debut. While it wasn’t a dominant performance against this shorthanded Warriors team, there was a lot to like.

Lillard, a franchise legend at this point, hadn’t played in an NBA game since suffering his Achilles injury in March 2025, but looked comfortable in this one. He scored 15 points in just 19 minutes, shooting 5-of-11 from the floor and knocking down three triples in the first quarter alone. It was an encouraging showing for a player who has been sidelined for so long, especially given how important his return could be to Portland’s success this season.

Morant, meanwhile, had a quieter night statistically, finishing with eight points, five assists and two steals in 19 minutes. However, his explosiveness was on full display, and although he didn’t stuff the stat sheet, there’s a clear path to him being a really impactful player for the Blazers this season. He’s another player looking to get back to a former version of himself, and even in limited minutes, there were flashes of what he could provide.

Beyond those two, Portland got a strong performance from Deni Avdija, who finished with a team-high 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Robert Williams III also made his presence felt defensively, recording five blocks and five rebounds in just 14 minutes. Collectively, the Blazers showed flashes of what this roster could look like when everything comes together.

Overall, this was a game that showed the upside Portland has. Again, it’s preseason, and this wasn’t a fully healthy Warriors team, but there’s real talent on this Blazers roster. If the team gets internal development over the course of the year and some of these veteran players get back to former versions of themselves, this is a group to watch out for.

There’s enough talent on this roster to legitimately compete for a top-six seed in the Western Conference, which would be a major step forward for the franchise.

And while there’s only so much to take away from any preseason game, that’s just the nature of these contests, there’s still real upside that can be gleaned from Wednesday night’s showing. Portland has a lot of pieces that still need to come together, but there’s plenty of reason to believe this Blazers team is going to be very competitive this season.