ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — The Denver Nuggets were in town on MLK Day for a matinee against the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors were seeking a record-breaking sixteenth straight win at home. Golden State was once again without the services of Festus Ezeli (sprained ankle), but had called up James McAdoo to shore up the front line. Ognjen Kuzmic, who had played two games this past weekend with the D-League Santa Cruz Warriors, was listed as inactive.
1ST QUARTER: Curry Leads Initial Charge
Nuggets rookie 6’11” center Jusuf Nurkic, who weighs a hefty 280 lbs and gave Denver the ability to trade away Timofey Mozgov, immediately made his presence known, blocking a reverse layup by Stephen Curry and altering a Harrison Barnes left bank-shot.
However, the Warriors reeled off an early 6-0 run as Curry hit a triple, then received a first-down pass by Andrew Bogut, in which Curry faked out the coverage by Wilson Chandler and pulled-up for the short banker from the left side.
Nuggets head coach Brian Shaw took an early twenty-second timeout, then soon caught up to 8-7 with 5:49 remaining after Chandler penetrated for a layup and Kenneth Faried got a jumper to go. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr then also called timeout.
Out of the timeout on the “ATO” (after-timeout play), the #BlackFalcon re-emerged, fed by Curry, for a dunk from the right baseline.
After that, Klay Thompson demonstrated his propensity for attacking the rack this season. On a great sequence for the #SplashBrothers, after he got a steal on a bad pass by Ty Lawson, Thompson led the break, paused at the right elbow beyond the arc, which drew Lawson’s attention while getting back on defense, and flipped the ball to a trailing Curry.
Curry missed the three, but Barnes was there to tap the ball out to Thompson, who had ended up now on the opposite side of the floor. With Faried the only man standing between him and the rim, Klay challenged Faried, jumping early before Faried could time it right, and Thompson’s finger roll trickled in.
That led to an 18-11 lead for the Warriors with 2:56 to go. At that point, Thompson and Curry were outscoring the Nuggets’ backcourt, 13-0.
Golden State ended the quarter with a Thompson-to-Curry reverse layup on a fastbreak initiated by a defensive rebound of a JJ Hickson miss by Draymond Green, a Curry block of Hickson’s shot on the way up (that went out of bounds), an immediate steal by Justin Holiday after he checked in for Thompson at the 1:48 mark (against Hickson, no less), and a dunk and-one by Marreese Speights, assisted by Curry.
The Dubs took a 25-15 lead heading into the second frame. Curry led all scorers with 9 points, 4 assists and 1 blocked shot, while Thompson added 6 points, and Barnes, Green, and Bogut each recorded 4 rebounds apiece. The Warriors assisted on 8 of their 10 field goals made and only committed one turnover (by Speights, upon entry).
Chandler led the Nuggets with 5 points and Faried added 4.
2ND QUARTER: Second Unit Sparks 15-0 Run
The Warriors’ second unit once again sparked a big run, much as they’d done against Miami last week. Here were some of the highlights:
- Speights drew another charge against — you guessed it! — Hickson.
- Holiday splashed two in-rhythm three-pointers, the second of which Andre Iguodala greeted Holiday with a big high-five at halfcourt as Holiday ran back on defense and as Shaw called timeout with the score 39-18, capping the first 14 points of the 15-0 run.
- Shaun Livingston swatted a Lawson jumper out of bounds after Lawson got stuck on the baseline as Livingston moved his feet to cover ground.
- David Lee‘s spin game was on point today, getting past defenders like Hickson with ease. After a foul by Nurkic on one of these, Lee converted both free throws.
A long two by Lawson would finally end the Nuggets’ drought, but the Warriors starters came back in and kept shutting the door on Denver, with these highlights:
- Bogut, Thompson, and Lee played “tic-tac-toe” as Bogut fed Thompson, who attacked the rim, rose, and dumped the ball off to Lee for an easy two at the rim.
- Bogut also blocked Warriors whipping boy Hickson and that led a three-pointer swish by Iguodala from the left elbow.
- Thompson got a left jumper to fall after Bogut played high pivot point on the left free-throw-line-extended, letting Curry pass without giving the ball up, then letting Klay pass by him, dropping the perfect bounce pass to meet Thompson’s cut. It was one of the most fundamental plays we’ve seen from the Warriors this season, and gave Golden State a 47-20 lead with 3:51 to go in the half.
- Thompson got a “reload” three-pointer after he missed his first try in-and-out from the right corner, on a no-look by Curry. But Bogut corralled the rebound, going low for the catch and dribble, dishing it back out to Steph at the point, where Curry fed Thompson wide open up more on the right elbow.
The Warriors took a 55-28 lead over the Nuggets into halftime. #SplashBrothers Klay and Steph had 11 points apiece, combining for 9-for-17 from the field, with Curry adding 6 assists. Barnes, Green, and Bogut combined for 18 rebounds and the Warriors got 15 assists on 21 field goals made.
Golden State also held Denver to just 12-for-43 shooting (27.9%) and forced 9 turnovers, committing only 2 in the process.
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