The Golden Warriors played their first game at Chase Center of the new season on Friday, and one of their key members, Draymond Green returned. However, that did not keep them from losing 123-98 to the Portland Trail Blazers at home.

Before Friday's game, C.J. McCollum led in 3-pointer-making by averaging 5.5 triples per game. He lived up to that reputation by going 5-4 from downtown in the first quarter at Chase Center, throwing the Warriors off their guard 36-21.

Though McCollum missed all his six three-pointers in the following game, he remained sharp in the middle range (5-7), not to mention that Damian Lillard took the offensive load over from him in the second half. Remember, Lillard did not need extra encouragement to beat the Warriors

Having gone 6-10 behind the 3-point line, Lillard drained five of his triples in the second half, and four of them happened beyond 30 feet. Last season, he already went 54-130 from that distance, more than anyone did in league history.

While their duo continued to dominate the floor, the Trail Blazers were happy to see that Harry Giles III got some time in the game and, more importantly, made the 13 minutes he had worth giving. His contributions were the three points, five rebounds, two assists, and one block on the stat sheet and a different role he could play compared with Jusuf Nurkic and Enes Kanter. Defensively Giles could better pressure the opponents' ball handler thanks to his better mobility; in the offense, he was able to find an open teammate in transition, a valuable quality for a big man.

Friday's game was also a record night for Carmelo Anthony, who scored 18 points, surpassing Tim Duncan (26,496 points) to rise to No. 14 on the NBA All-Time Points Leaders List. 36-year-old Anthony (26,499) is 169 points away from No. 13 Dominique Wilkins (26.668). Including the "Human Highlight," Anthony has four to outdo – Oscar Robertson (26,710), Hakeem Olajuwon (26,946), and Elvin Hayes (27,313) – before making the top 10.

On the Warriors' side, Green's return did not lead to the immediate effect the team had expected, partly because he only played 17 minutes. The positive part was that Green assisted the two first 3-pointers made by Stephen Curry. Green still knows how the coach Steve Kerr's system works, and that's very important to today's Warriors.

Nonetheless, the bad news was that Green remained an offensive liability individually. He went 0-3 and got zero point in the game. Though his individual attack grew worse year by year since 2016, the Warriors had Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant to remedy that – which ceased to be the fact from 2019. Green must contribute more than moving the ball and defense to live to his four-year, $100-million contract.

Losing home debut of the season was tough, but what's even more upsetting to Curry may be the fact that today's Warriors have not found their direction. Curry put down team-high 26 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, but neither 9-20 in field goals nor 4-12 in triples was satisfactory. Curry scored 12 points in the third quarter but he did that in a desperate way, something he has not experienced for years.

Kerr has to figure out how adjust his team. The Warriors are looking at an enormous figure of $221 million of total payroll and luxury tax because their owner Joe Lacob and general manager Bob Myers want to fight for something this season instead of tanking. That's why they landed Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre Jr., who by the way, should be dealt with after going 1-25 from the arc in five games.

Curry is turning 33 years old in March, and he does not have long left of his prime.

Other games on Friday (away teams come first):

Memphis Grizzlies 108-93 Charlotte Hornets

The Grizzlies managed to avoid losing streak after six of their players reached double-digit points, led by Dillon Brooks' 21. The team's ace guard Ja Morant will have to rest for three to five weeks before recovering from Grade 2 ankle sprain.

Despite the loss, first-year rookie LaMelo Ball scored 15 points and six assists in Friday's game, which is his second straight double-digit scoring performance. The faster he gets used to the NBA, the happier Hornets fans will be.

Boston Celtics 93-96 Detroit Pistons

The Piston finally claimed their first win of the season by defeating the Celtics at Little Caesars Arena. Having started on a wonderful 27-12 in Q1, the Pistons encountered violent counterattacks, but they stood up to them. Derrick Rose had 17 points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals, including making the key shot that put the Pistons back on top at 1:21 in Q4.

By the way, Blake Griffin of the Pistons sat on this game.

Washington Wizards 130-109 Minnesota Timberwolves

Griffin was not the only embarrassed highest-player of the team on Friday. Russell Westbrook shared his pain as the Wizards achieved their first win of the season without the guy who averaged triple-double during the team's five-straight-loss trip. Bradley Beal scored court-high 31 points, proving that he meant it when he hinted he's the leader of the Wizards.

Miami Heat 83-93 Dallas Mavericks

Luka Doncic has not found all of his game back yet but rebounding from his disappointing form in the previous four games was not hard either. The 21-year-old dropped 27 points, 15 rebounds, and seven assists, helping the Mavericks pocket their second win of the season. His footwork in front of Bam Adebayo at 2:34 in Q2 also reminded you of the Doncic last season when he did not need to lose weight.

On the Heat's side, Jimmy Butler came back after resting two games but going 0-6 to get only two points was not what the team expected from him. Of course, Butler should not be held fully responsible for the loss. The Heat's 7-33 shooting performance in triples was too bad for the team to win.

Atlanta Hawks 114-96 Brooklyn Nets

The Hawks got their vengeance in two days. De'Andre Hunter, Trae Young, and John Collins all scored 20+points to help their team walk over the Nets. In fact, the Hawks led in each of all four quarters at Barclays Center.

Kevin Durant's 28 points, eight rebounds, and four assists failed to lead the Nets to their fourth win of the season. Kyrie Irving again struggled in the first three quarters, but he did not bounce back in Q4 this time.

Chicago Bulls 96-126 Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks have not won or lost in a row so far this season. After the 119-108 loss against the Heat on Wednesday, the Bucks released their anger on the Bulls at home. Having gone 22-45 from the 3-point line, they left ho hope for the opponents at Fiserv Forum.

To be fair, though Giannis Antetokounmpo was only 1-5 from downtown, his aggressive charging of the rim distracted too much defensive attention of the Bulls for them to cover other Bucks behind the 3-point line. The Greek Freak earned 18 free throws and made 10 of them, leading the floor in points (29), rebounds (12), and assists (eight).

Los Angeles Lakers 109-103 San Antonio Spurs

This season's schedule is very tight because of the COVID-19 pandemic and one of the consequences is that two teams may have to meet twice in two or three days. So far it has been very difficult for a team to win both games on that schedule but the Lakers did it on Friday.

Anthony Davis pulled himself out of the previous struggling performance by putting down season-high 34 points at 50-percent field goals and 66.7-percent triples. LeBron James claimed the 95th triple-double in his career by getting 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

Phoenix Suns 106-103 Denver Nuggets

When Chris Paul joined the Suns during the offseason, many expected the Suns to be better in the new season. Well, they did it by topping the Western Conference after six games. 35-year-old Paul never averaged less than 30 minutes since he came to the NBA in 2005 – until this season (28.8 minutes). His average points of 13.2 also hit a career low, but he still managed to deliver 8.7 assists per game.

Moreover, Paul is still the most reliable guy during clutch time. Having trailed by 16 points at most, the Nuggets narrowed it down to two after Nikola Jokic put the ball back into the hoop at 3:46 in Q4. Then Paul stood out, scoring eight points in 208 seconds via two perimeter shots and four free throws.

"Him being able to knock down shots, and the ability and will to take those shots, is huge for us," said Suns head coach Monty Williams.

Los Angeles Clippers 100-106 Utah Jazz

The Suns moved top No. 1 in the West also because the Clippers suffered a loss on the same day. Serge Ibaka was supposed to make Rudy Gobert uncomfortable by sinking shots from the arc. Unfortunately, that did not happen because the Ibaka missed five of his six triple attempts. Though Gobert and Derrick Favors met foul trouble once on the floor, they still managed to limit the Clippers' points in the paint to 30.

Mike Conley contributed offensively as much as Gobert and Favors did in defense. By draining seven 3-pointers and three floaters, the 33-year-old guard frightened the Clippers' defense by himself. When the opponents narrowed the score difference down to one point in Q4, Conley stood out again by making one triple and four free throws to kill the game for the Jazz.