ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — The decimated Denver Nuggets (12-21) were in town to face the Golden State Warriors (30-2), who were also suddenly decimated with injuries.
Andre Iguodala started in place of Brandon Rush, while Stephen Curry returned to the lineup. Harrison Barnes, Festus Ezeli, Leandro Barbosa, James McAdoo, and Kevon Looney were all out with injuries.
1st Quarter – Treymond!
The Warriors got off on the right foot with their first play an alley-oop to Iguodala delivered by Curry…
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…then after Danilo Gallinari missed his first attempt, Curry found Draymond Green for a triple on a catch-and-shoot.
After Gallinari came back with a jumper, Klay Thompson took Gary Harris off the dribble into the paint and dished back out to Green again for three from up top.
Almost a minute later, Curry swung the ball to Iguodala in the left corner, who passed up the open three, drove on Gallinari and found Green open on the right wing:
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Draymond passed up the initial catch, but thought about it again and launched, and drilled another three!
Nuggets head coach Mike Malone called timeout as the Warriors took an early 11-2 lead with 9:41 to go in the opening frame.
But Green wasn’t done, getting a runout steal after Nikola Jokic lost the ball. Curry ran the break with Draymond and Green got the layup assist.
After Kenneth Faried got called for traveling rebounding a missed triple from Gallinari, Iguodala ran interference up top with Andrew Bogut and found Green open again, and Draymond swished another trey from the top:
Another one ? pic.twitter.com/42AxIetRI0
— KNBR (@KNBR) January 3, 2016
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Later, Green tried another heat-check but was off rim, but not long after that, Iguodala lasered a pass to Draymond under the hoop for a dunk.
Curry then deflected the ball from Jameer Nelson, found Thompson streaking down the left side, and Klay launched a 1-on-3 transition bomb, but missed.
Will Barton made him pay with a strong lefty layup, but Green inbounded immediately to Curry, who sent the outlet up to Thompson for a layup, a length-of-the-court “tic-tac-toe” connection, and Golden State took a commanding 23-4 lead with 5:46 to play:
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Curry also added this dazzling play, although he did not score on the step-back three over Gallinari from the left corner:
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With 4:13 to play, Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton took a timeout with Golden State up, 25-6, and inserted Shaun Livingston for Iguodala, then on the next dead ball, Ian Clark for Curry and Marreese Speights for Bogut.
Green got a post-up to drop over Harris, added one of two free throws on another post up against Barton, and Speights and Livingston added jumpers.
After the Nuggets missed four consecutive attempts on three offensive rebounds, Thompson added a catch-and-shoot trey from the right wing with 22.1 seconds remaining, and Nelson added a reverse layup just past the reach of Livingston with 2.2 ticks to go.
The Warriors took a commanding 37-13 lead after one period.
Green tallied 18 points on 6-for-7 field, 4-for-5 downtown, to go along with 4 rebounds and 4 assists in the opening stanza.
2nd Quarter – JT Steps Up
Jason Thompson (“JT”) started the second quarter and Livingston, who stands 6’7”, blocked power forward Darrell Arthur’s inside attempt:
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Clark got a nice layup, which was answered by a Nelson three, and at the next TV timeout, the Warriors held their lead at 43-25 with 8:19 to go in the half.
JT and Clark were soon joined in the lineup by Curry, Klay, and Iguodala, and JT set two screens, slipped to the basket, and Steph rewarded him with a nice feed. Thompson’s dunk was also Curry’s fourth assist on the night and put Golden State up, 46-27.
Green checked back in, then found Curry on a catch-and-shoot three after Bogut supplied the off-ball screen, then Iguodala got this dunk down the lane after Steph’s cross-court sling pass got deflected:
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With 2:35 to play, Green went “tic-tac-toe” to JT, who found Livingston for a reverse layup to give the Warriors a 54-39 lead:
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Draymond added his fifth trey, this time from the right wing on a catch from Clark and over Gallinari.
Klay missed a late-shotclock deep pull over Gallinari, tapping his chest “my bad” while going back on defense, but he came back with a long catch-and-shoot after Nelson hit another trey.
With 43.2 seconds left, JT drew a nice foul on the rebound with Faried crashing in, but made only one free throw.
After Nelson blew past Clark for a foul on the layup, Malone opted to go with “Hack-A-JT”, and Thompson once again missed one of two.
However, he made a good contest of Faried’s drive down the lane, and Faried sent him to the line again, but this time JT made both to put the Warriors up, 63-45, with 15.5 ticks to go.
Barton swished a nice pull-up jumper at the buzzer from the left wing, and Green picked up a technical while jawing with Faried and Nelson on the walk to the locker room.
Golden State led Denver, 63-47, at the half. Draymond had amassed 21 points on 6 rebounds and 5 assists, while Iguodala added 9 points. Nelson led the Nuggets with 14 points and Gallinari added 12.
Curry and Thompson combined for just 5-for-15 from the field.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @taylorburns93)
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