ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — This is a continuation of the halftime recap of the Denver Nuggets at the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors held a 63-47 lead heading into halftime.
3rd Quarter – No Curry, Nuggets Creep Back
After playing 14 minutes in the first half to go 2-for-6 from the field and 1-for-5 from beyond the arc, Stephen Curry took a seat with a shin contusion and Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton gave Ian Clark the start.
Clark started off hot, with a fake swing pass to Klay Thompson and stuck the straightaway three.
Thompson then hit two straight jumpers, a one-legged runner and a step-back fade, bot near the free-throw line.
After Kenneth Faried got a putback dunk, Clark gave a jab step and went down the lane for a lefty layup to give the Warriors a 74-53 lead.
But the Nuggets got a run-out layup on a Clark bad pass at the top, Faried got a bucket inside after a Will Barton drive down the left side, and Walton called timeout with 6:06 to go with Golden State up, 76-60.
Later, Klay lobbed an alley-oop to Andrew Bogut, then got a catch-and-shoot jumper to trickle in, which was Draymond Green’s seventh assist, and the Warriors were back up by 20.
Clark got a nice high-off-the-backboard scoop with the lefty just past Faried and Marreese Speights got an “and-one” on the putback:
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Thompson added a three assisted by Shaun Livingston, but it was answered by a triple from Danilo Gallinari, Clark made a twisting runner going just past Jameer Nelson, but Nelson got a pull-up jumper before the buzzer.
The Warriors had a 90-77 lead over the Nuggets heading into the final frame.
4th Quarter – Mini-Runs By Nuggets Force Overtime
The Nuggets started off the fourth period on a roll as Barton hit a three and Darrell Arthur got two jumpers to fall.
Suddenly, Denver had cut what was once a 26-point lead to just eight, 92-84, as Walton took a timeout with 9:22 to go.
But Green and Klay got assisted layups and it was Nuggets head coach Mike Malone’s turn to stem the tide, calling timeout with 7:43 remaining and the Warriors up, 96-84.
Klay then missed two threes while Bogut picked up his fifth personal with a forearm to Gallinari’s back on a drive baseline, and a Barton contested pull-up jumper capped a 6-0 mini-run to make it 96-90, Warriors, with 6:10 left.
Green then made a bad lead pass to Thompson in traffic, but Iguodala knocked out Barton’s drive, and Klay found Draymond, who made a touch-pass back to Thompson, for the run-out layup. It was Green’s tenth assist, giving him his second triple-double in consecutive nights and his sixth of the season, the most of any forward in the NBA since LeBron James tallied seven of them in the 2008-09 season.
Later, Clark made a nice cut and Green found him for a layup, and Malone called timeout with 4:03 left, with the Warriors up, 100-92.
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But Gary Harris came back with a three from the left wing after Nelson drove hard into the lane and hung in the air for the last moment pass, then after Klay missed a three, Faried got an “and-one” to go with Bogut picking up his sixth foul. The Nuggets had come back to make it 100-98.
Walton inserted Livingston for Bogut and, with the “small ball” lineup, Thompson made an inside bucket in traffic…
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…but Green took an ill-advised catch-and-shoot three from the right wing, looking for the dagger, and a TV timeout stopped the clock with 2:25 to go, Warriors 102-98.
Livingston then blocked a Barton attack nicely, but Thompson lost the ball as Faried doubled as Klay tried to go by Barton, and Barton ended up with a two-handed dunk over Clark at the other end, perhaps fouled but no call, with 34 ticks left.
Walton took a timeout, but Iguodala bricked a jumper and Barton went the length of the court, drove past Iguodala down the left side and went with a fake, an up-and-under to tie the game, 102-102, with 0.9 seconds remaining.
The Warriors took another timeout, but the lob to Iguodala went awry and the game went into overtime.
Overtime – Great Defense
Walton stayed with the small lineup to start overtime and the Nuggets drew first blood with Gallinari getting fouled by Green.
Meanwhile, Klay missed a triple and a jumper but Draymond finally broke the Warriors’ drought with a layup down the lane, assisted by Thompson. That gave Green 29 points on the night.
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Clark then followed it up with this nice move…
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Barton took Green to the hole at the other end, missed, but Faried made a power putback off the board to tie the game, 106-106, with 2:18 to go.
Neither team scored for another minute, as Green launched a brick from beyond the arc on the left wing, after not being able to enter the ball to Speights, but Speights took a charge on Barton on the next possession for the Nuggets.
Walton took a timeout and Green got the ball in the mid-post on the after-timeout play, and fed an open Speights for a 20-foot jumper that swished through.
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But Faried went strong at Green and got a one-handed banker to drop, contested.
With game tied at 108-108, Thompson came back with a finger roll on a drive into the lane going left to right, which put the Warriors back up, 110-108, with just 15.6 seconds left. Malone called timeout.
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Out of the timeout, Barton drove to the baseline against Iguodala and missed a baseline jumper too hard with Iguodala’s long arms draped all over him. Thompson got the rebound and Harris immediately fouled him.
With 6.9 seconds remaining, Klay made the first free throw but missed the second, and the Warriors clung onto a 111-108 lead with Malone calling timeout again.
Faried had to be tended to during the timeout and Arthur came in for him. Clark fell down on a pick, but managed to switch effectively with Livingston before the ball was inbounded. The play went clearly to Malone’s designated target, Barton, Klay converged, played tight defense, and Barton shanked a three from the deep left wing at the buzzer.
Walton had elected not to foul up three, and the Warriors pulled out the victory, 111-108. Golden State had held Denver to 2-for-10 in the overtime.
Green led all scorers with 29 points, 17 rebounds, and 14 assists. Thompson had 26 points on 11-for-27 shooting, and Clark added 15 points, going 7-for-8 from the field.
Gallinari, Nelson, and Barton all finished with 20 or more points for the Nuggets, and Faried added 15-and-12. Barton led the team with 13 rebounds.
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The Warriors (31-2) will host the Charlotte Hornets in two nights.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @gregorybcarlson)
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