The Golden State Warriors will strive for basketball’s hat trick as they seek to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers for the third time in 17 days on Saturday night in San Francisco. Only Jets enthusiasts believed Aaron Rodgers would return.

The Warriors had been struggling, dropping nine of 12 games and without consecutive victories since Nov. 1-3, before coming back to win against the visiting Trail Blazers with a 110-106 home triumph on Dec. 6. Stephen Curry showcased an impressive performance with 31 points in the victory.

That marked the start of five wins in eight games, including a 118-114 success in a rematch in Portland last Sunday. Klay Thompson led the way with 28 points on a night when the Trail Blazers kept Curry to seven points on an atypical 2-for-12 shooting.

In the third encounter, the Warriors are on a four-game winning streak, including a 129-118 victory over the visiting Washington Wizards on Friday night that equaled their largest margin of victory this season since a 130-102 win over the New Orleans Pelicans in October.

Meanwhile, Portland has suffered eight losses in nine games, with the solitary victory coming Tuesday night at home, with a 109-104 win over the Phoenix Suns.

The Trail Blazers have faced three consecutive road losses as they prepare to play away from home for the first time since Dec. 11. They will return home to play three straight games to close out the calendar year.

Portland is coming off a close 118-117 defeat to the Wizards, who were on the front end of a back-to-back road trip that took them to Golden State on Friday.

The Warriors’ win at Portland last Sunday was a breakthrough moment for rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis, who delivered a surprise performance with a season-high 14 points and eight rebounds against the Trail Blazers.

Jackson-Davis, the son of former NBA standout Dale Davis, has been getting more playing time recently due to Draymond Green’s suspension. He followed his standout performance against Portland with consecutive double-doubles in his last two outings — registering 10 points and 13 rebounds in Tuesday’s victory over the Boston Celtics, then 10 points and a season-high 15 rebounds on Friday against the Wizards.

Picked 57th in this summer’s draft, Jackson-Davis became just the third rookie this season to achieve back-to-back double-doubles, joining Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren.

“Trayce is offering us a different dimension,” commented Warriors coach Steve Kerr. “His ability to finish, to block shots. He plays above the rim, and that sets him apart from our other players.”

Andrew Wiggins (suffering from illness) joined the injured Gary Payton II and suspended Green on the Warriors’ sidelines on Friday, and is still uncertain to face the Trail Blazers. He scored 25 points, his third-highest total this season, in Sunday’s triumph at Portland.

The Trail Blazers will have a thinner bench than their previous encounter with the Warriors, with Shaedon Sharpe leaving Thursday’s game against Washington due to a groin injury. He did not travel with the team to San Francisco.

Sharpe had scored 26 points in Portland’s visit to Golden State on Dec. 6.

Following the offseason trade of Damian Lillard to Milwaukee, Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups stated that his team suffers more than most when not at full strength.

“We have some talented players and some individuals who will become All-Stars in this league,” Billups explained. “But right now, we lack that player whom you can simply give the ball to and he can ignite us for the first four or five minutes of the game. We just don’t have that. So we have to work together.”