Warriors' Flow Offense Meets a Crowded Blazers Backcourt in Preseason Clash

Golden State's free-flowing look gets the edge over a Portland team still sorting out its guards.

POR @ GSW Oct 17, 2026 at 2:00 AM UTC

The Trail Blazers visit Chase Center for a preseason game, and the biggest storyline is Damian Lillard's return to Portland, which reshapes the Blazers' backcourt. Scoot Henderson started alongside Lillard against Sacramento on Tuesday and handed out four assists. His strong preseason, expiring rookie deal and competition from Lillard, Morant and Holiday leave Portland with a crowded guard rotation. Exhibition games exist to sort out minutes like these, but sorting them out can cost a team some cohesion.

Golden State looks further along in its identity. The Warriors are playing with fewer called plays and more flow, with players executing concepts and reading the defense, and the preseason win over the Lakers showed it. That approach should test a Portland group still working out who plays with whom. Quick decisions, cutting and ball movement tend to punish a defense that is still learning its partners.

The Warriors are not whole. Kristaps Porzingis is out of practice, the team has given no official timeline for his return, and he is not expected for the opener. Steve Kerr is leaning toward starting Steph, BP, Gui, Yax and Draymond, with Al Horford limited to about 20 minutes a game off the bench. That group puts a lot of playmaking and movement on the floor, which fits the flow style even without a traditional center.

Portland's guard talent can keep this close, and Henderson's emergence gives the Blazers a real option beside Lillard. Still, Golden State's clearer structure and home setting should matter more in a preseason game where cohesion is at a premium. I expect the Warriors to pull away late in a modest-scoring game, 112-106.

All game reports