You have to give the Portland Trail Blazers some credit. Playing without Damain Lillard for a fifth consecutive game, the Blazers scrapped and avoided getting blown out by the Warriors for a third time this season. Portland, however, lost to Golden State yet again 125-117.

Golden State is now a league-best 31-5, including 16-3 at home. The Warriors have a four-game winning streak.

Takeaways

Pivotal third: Portland played neck-and-neck with the Warriors for most of the first quarter and had a 74-70 lead with 10:42 left in the third. But then the Warriors took over, responding with a 11-0 run that was capped off by a ridiculous reverse layup by Stephen Curry.

Golden State led by seven at the end of the third and maintained its lead for the rest of the game, not allowing Portland to get closer than five points.

Steph is gonna Steph: Since Curry's subpar performance on Christmas against the Cavs, the Warriors superstar has really stepped up his game. He has become more aggressive, taking full advantage of scoring opportunities by looking for his shot more and more. That was the case against the Blazers; Curry took 25 shots and finished with 35 points to go along with five assists and seven rebounds. He shot 12 for 25, including 5 for 13 from deep.

When Curry is scoring like he was against Portland, the Warriors are extremely tough to beat.

Dominant Durant: While Curry was sensational, the same can be said about Kevin Durant. Playing extremely well on both ends of the court, Durant finished the game with 30 points, five rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals. He was extremely efficient, shooting 9 for 16, including 3 for 8 from deep, plus 9 for 9 from the free-throw line. Defensively, Durant was huge, playing the role of rim protector at times and limiting Portland's offense with the intangibles he brings on the defensive end.

All-around Dray: Draymond Green filled up the stat sheet once again, finishing with nine points, seven rebounds, 11 assists and three steals. Green does everything for the Warriors and just makes winning plays. Like this big-time block in the fourth that effectively shut down any chance of Portland staging a comeback:

C.J. McCollum gets buckets: Carrying the Blazers all game long, McCollum led Portland with 35 points. He single-handedly kept the Blazers in the game and McCollum's 26 points in the first half prevented Golden State from blowing the contest wide open. Golden State did clamp down on McCollum in the second half, though; he didn't score a single field goal in the third, which allowed the Warriors to open things a bit. With Lillard out, the Blazers relied on McCollum, and yet again he did all that he could.

Posterization: Besides for McCollum's scoring, Meyers Leonard had the highlight of the night for the Blazers, dunking right on Curry:

Oh, Meyers!

Warriors look ahead: Golden State has a day off before playing host to the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday. Memphis is one of the five teams to beat Golden State this season, so this game will be the first chance for the Warriors to get some revenge for their 110-89 loss on Dec. 10.