The Golden State Warriors (14-0) were in Denver to attempt to tie the NBA record for the most consecutive wins to start a season: 15. The Denver Nuggets (6-8) were without Kenneth Faried due to an injured ankle.
1st Quarter – Iguodala And Livingston Create More Separation
Andrew Bogut got off to a good early start with two lefty hooks and an alley oop finish when the Nuggets shaded too far on Klay Thompson looking for a pass on the wing and Bogut slipped the motion, with Stephen Curry delivering the lob:
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Although Curry missed his first two three-point attempts, Draymond Green comfortably made his first on a right-to-left drive from Thompson.
The Warriors were perhaps getting used to the thin air early, as Harrison Barnes missed a bunny at the rim fed by Curry and Thompson airballed a turnaround righty hook in the post.
Golden State also committed small little mistakes that were, nevertheless, turnovers. Both Bogut and Thompson stepped on the baseline or sideline while catching a ball.
Gary Harris and Danilo Gallinari played well for Denver, with Harris attacking, Gallinari drilling a trey and attacking as well.
After the first timeout with under six minutes to play, the game was tied 15-15.
Out of the timeout, Emmanuel Mudiay made a couple of mental errors after missing a shot that Bogut grabbed off the board, outlet to Klay, who then lobbed back to Bogut for an alley-oop smash.
On the inbound after the made basket, Mudiay stepped on the baseline for a turnover, Thompson missed a jumper, Mudiay took an ill-advised early three from the left wing, and Thompson zipped the ball ahead to Andre Iguodala, who found Curry in the right corner for a triple:
How on earth do you stop the Warriors in transition? pic.twitter.com/40CVjWQtmd
— Dieter Kurtenbach (@dkurtenbach) November 23, 2015
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Nuggets head coach Michael Malone sensed trouble and called timeout with the Warriors up, 20-15.
Curry had a great defensive play knocking a pass to the right wing away with his back turned and finishing with a runout finger roll.
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Then Green started a “tic tac toe” play delivering an entry pass to Curry cutting late in the shotclock, and Steph found Festus Ezeli for a slam.
Iguodala and Green added threes, and Iguodala closed out the quarter stealing a pass from Jameer Nelson, finding Livingston for an emphatic dunk:
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The Warriors took a 34-23 lead after one, holding the Nuggets to 39% shooting.
2nd Quarter – Small-Ball Creates Separation
The bench unit had some flair as Barnes picked Nelson cleanly, ran the break, and fed Iguodala for the slam.
Livingston even back-rimmed a rare left corner three in front of the Warriors bench, where Ezeli was ready to celebrate.
But Darrell Arthur came alive and scored seven consecutive Nuggets points, then added a jumper, another dunk, and a layup.
Will Barton got in the act, as well, scoring four buckets and a free throw, three of them on dynamic drives to the hoop.
Curry made a bad pass behind a cutting James McAdoo, then even after Steph and Klay returned to the game, Gallinari got a driving dunk…
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…and felt spirited on defense as he hounded Curry on defense.
Curry tried a catch-and-shoot from the deep left wing over Gallinari, missed it, and Barton took the rebound 94 feet to score a layup.
All of a sudden, the Nuggets took a 51-50 lead with 2:19 to play as Warriors interim head coach Luke Walton took a timeout to stop the bleeding.
Thompson drilled a catch-and-shoot trey from the top assisted by Curry right away, then after Gallinari lost the ball to Steph, Klay got fouled by Gallinari and made two free throws.
Then “Gallo” missed a three-pointer, Curry got the rebound, passed to Thompson, who drove, hung in the air, and at the last possible moment, delivered a pass to an awaiting Barnes in the right corner for three.
Malone took a 20-second timeout as “small-ball” gave the Warriors a 58-53 lead with 1:06 remaining.
Golden State wasn’t done, as Thompson hit two catch-and-shoot threes — totaling 16 points — delivered by Steph, the latter of which was facilitated by a screen with the perfect angle executed by Green for the catch:
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But Klay made a mistake as the buzzer as Barton adjusted in mid-air and caught Thompson’s contact, even as Klay had both hands up.
Barton hit all three free throws with 0.3 seconds remaining and the Warriors took a 64-58 lead into halftime.
Curry tallied 9 points, 7 assists, and 2 steals. The Warriors also had 21 assists on 26 field goals made, plus 10 steals.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @pek7683)
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