The Portland Trail Blazers played the first game of their Tiago Splitter era with effort, resolve, and verve on Friday evening. They hosted the veteran Golden State Warriors, led by former MVP and future Hall-of-Famer Steph Curry. Curry was everything advertised, scoring 35 points on 7-14 shooting from beyond the arc.

And it didn’t matter a bit.

Portland took the “G” right out of Golden State, running the visitors right out of the building to the tune of a 139-119 final score. Saying it was the best game of the season would induce chuckles, as there have only been two and the other one was a loss. It was definitely the best sustained effort we’ve seen from the Blazers in a couple years, though. Given the circumstances–losing their coach in scandalous fashion, trying to establish identity

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