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PORTLAND -- Damian Lillard aptly described the Warriors before facing off against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.

"We played them in the preseason," Lillard said. "And that game showed how explosive they can be."

Explosive is exactly what the Warriors are. Especially Stephen Curry.

After a dismal first-half scoring performance, where he missed all four of his 3-point attempts and scored five points, Curry instantly caught fire in the opening minutes of the second half. Bursting for 23 points in the quarter, Curry put on a performance reminiscent of his unanimous MVP campaign from last season.

Curry hit contested 3s, scored on a circus And-1 layup and was just pulling up from deep with supreme confidence.

Curry's confidence is a familiar sight. But Curry knew he was in for a big quarter as soon as he saw his first trey go down about three minutes into the quarter.

"You see one go in and that's all you really need," Curry said. "It's nice to see one go in. Especially the one I took, which was kind of crazy."

The Blazers had no way of slowing down Curry. The reigning MVP was just feeling it. Curry was in the zone in the third, shooting 66.7 percent from field and draining five 3s.

"I told [Warriors assistant coach] Mike Brown at halftime, the thing with Steph is that he might just come out and get 25 in the second half," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the game. "I never seen anyone quite like him, who can turn it on that quickly, and turn a horrible game into a brilliant game. That's what makes Steph who he is. He has a very short memory. He doesn't worry about mistakes and missed shots. And he really got rolling obviously in the second half."

The rest of the Warriors fed off Curry's scoring burst, defending with energy and holding the Blazers to 30.4 percent shooting and 27.3 percent shooting from deep in the quarter. Portland scored 20 points in the third. Which means ...

3rd Quarter Score:

Curry 23

Blazers 20

Perhaps more important to his long-term health this season, due to Curry's 23-point quarter, Golden State blew the game open and led by 27 at the end of the third quarter, which allowed him to rest for the entirety of the fourth.

"Once [Curry] hit a couple off our mistakes, he started hitting tough ones," Lillard said. "Then he started setting screens and we were so worried about staying attached to him, they started slipping to the rim and it just got away from us."

Curry's third quarter was phenomenal, yet it was just one aspect of a much improved Warriors performance. Golden State was aggressive on defense throughout the game and prevented the Blazers from truly getting in any rhythm. The Warriors allowed the Blazers to score only seven second-chance points and Golden State also held Portland to 28 points in the paint.

"I thought the defense sparked the offense in this game in general," Kerr said. "I thought the defense was the best it's been so far in four games."

Golden State's defense truly frustrated the Blazers. Lillard continued his high-scoring ways, finishing with a game-high 31 points but the Blazers shot 43 percent and 35.9 percent from beyond the arc, an area where Portland usually excels.

"They were physical on defense, they had active hands," Lillard said. "Makes and misses, they pushed it out, they screened for each other. They played their game. In the first half, we were right there. In the second half, they stuck with it. Their defense was more consistent than ours, and their offense was more free than ours was."

But while Golden State's defense helped slow down the Blazers, it was Curry who delivered the knockout blow. A blow the Blazers knew was coming but had no way of dodging.

"He just does what Curry does," said Blazers coach Terry Stotts, perfectly describing the greatness of the reigning MVP.