Blazers vs. Warriors preview: Surprising Western conference teams set to meet

Although it's a bit strange to say, the Warriors haven't encountered a three-game losing streak once throughout the 2012-2013 season.

But that's exactly what the Trail Blazers will be looking to hand them when they roll into Oracle Arena at 10:30 p.m. ET Friday.

Portland has quietly strung together a four-game winning streak since last Friday to give them 12 victories in their last 15 games. The Blazers can have added confidence following their 92-90 comeback victory over the Miami Heat Thursday night. Portland overcame a 13-point deficit at the half.

On the other end, the Warriors have blown two consecutive opportunities to gain ground in the West, allowing the Clippers and Grizzlies to dominate them in the paint for their first back-to-back losses since Nov. 9-10. Luckily for Golden State, the Trail Blazers don't score at an intimidating rate down low, coming in at 28th in league with 35.9 points in the paint per game. As long as they can find a way to wrangle in LaMarcus Aldridge and his 20.6 points per game, the Warriors should be able to hang with Portland scoring-wise.

A fantastic battle to watch will be found between Damian Lillard and Stephen Curry. Lillard leads all rookies in scoring at 18 per game but Curry has broken the 20-point barrier in seven of his last nine games. Don't be surprised if these two light things up in what predicts to be a pretty up-tempo game.