SAN FRANCISCO — The Portland Trail Blazers can finish a four-game season sweep of the Golden State Warriors when the teams meet Tuesday night at Chase Center, the latest Warriors vs Trail Blazers chapter. Portland has pushed back into the play-in race despite injuries, while Golden State heads into the matchup with Jonathan Kuminga’s trade future drawing louder attention, Jan. 13, 2026.
Warriors vs Trail Blazers: season sweep and the standings squeeze
Portland is 3-0 in the season series and can make it 4-0, according to ESPN’s head-to-head breakdown. The Trail Blazers (19-21) began Tuesday ninth in the Western Conference, one spot behind the Warriors (21-19) in eighth — a narrow gap that matters as both teams jockey for play-in position.
The first three Warriors vs Trail Blazers meetings have tilted Portland’s way in high-scoring fashion: 139-119, 127-123 and 136-131. Stephen Curry scored 48 points in the Dec. 14 loss, but Portland had answers in the open floor and on the glass, including 35-point games from Shaedon Sharpe and Jerami Grant.
Warriors vs Trail Blazers: injuries and a thinner margin
Portland’s sweep bid comes shorthanded. Forward Deni Avdija — the Blazers’ leading scorer (26.1 points per game) and top distributor (6.9 assists) — is listed out with a back injury, and Grant is a game-time decision with an Achilles issue, per ESPN’s game preview and injury report. The Blazers have leaned on depth and pace, but missing Avdija removes a primary creator against a defense that thrives on forcing turnovers.
Even so, Portland arrives with momentum: It won four of its last five before Sunday’s 123-114 loss to the New York Knicks ended a five-game winning streak, an Associated Press recap reported in Sunday’s game story. Veteran guard Jrue Holiday returned from a calf injury in that loss, giving Portland another steady ball-handler as the lineup adjusts.
Kuminga trade saga adds another layer to Warriors vs Trail Blazers
For the Warriors, the night also lands in the middle of a roster storyline that has only grown louder. Kuminga becomes trade-eligible Jan. 15 after signing a two-year, $46.8 million deal in October, and he has fallen out of Steve Kerr’s regular rotation as the front office weighs options with the Feb. 5 trade deadline approaching, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Draymond Green defended Kuminga amid the speculation, saying, “Whatever happens at the trade deadline, if Jonathan Kuminga is moved, whoever gets him, that’s the guy you’re getting.”
The list of possible destinations keeps changing, but it hasn’t disappeared. The Kings and Bulls have been linked to Kuminga in past conversations, and the Lakers have continued to monitor his situation, Hoops Rumors reported, citing Jake Fischer of The Stein Line.
Continuity: from Lillard’s exit to today’s stakes
Portland’s chance to close out the Warriors vs Trail Blazers sweep is another marker in a longer rebuild arc that accelerated when the franchise moved on from Damian Lillard. Lillard’s 2023 trade to Milwaukee — a deal that brought Holiday to Portland — was detailed by ESPN when the blockbuster was finalized.
Golden State’s Kuminga trade saga also has a paper trail. In 2024, Hoops Rumors noted the Warriors were reluctant to meet the long-term price Kuminga sought without seeing another leap — context that now shadows every deadline rumor.
If Portland completes the sweep, the Warriors vs Trail Blazers season series will stand as one of the Blazers’ cleanest statements of the season, even short-handed. If Golden State finally halts it, the Warriors vs Trail Blazers rivalry shifts back toward the Warriors at a moment when standings pressure and trade chatter are both rising.
