Kevin Durant knew the Warriors would have to earn it and play well in every way to end a frustrating funk that lasted more than a week.
Durant scored 32 points, Klay Thompson had 31 and Golden State snapped its worst losing streak since early 2013 at four games, beating the Portland Trail Blazers 125-97 on Friday.
"I don't believe in like, it's just going to be over when it's over. In the NBA, I don't believe in fairytales and the emotions that come into this," Durant said.
"It's not going to just be over unless we got out there and impose our will on the basketball court like we did tonight. And it's not going to just happen for us tomorrow. We've got to play with that same passion and energy that we played with tonight."
Durant was 13 of 21 from the field, dished out eight assists, had seven rebounds and three of his team's 11 blocks. Thompson hit five of his first seven shots and grabbed a season-high eight boards for the undermanned two-time defending champions.
Two-time MVP Stephen Curry, in a car accident earlier in the day that left him uninjured, sat out again with a strained left groin and fellow All-Star Draymond Green also remained sidelined because of a sprained right toe.
Jusuf Nurkic had 22 points and eight rebounds for Portland on a night Damian Lillard shot just 9 of 24 for 23 points.