The Golden State Warriors pulled off one of their most surprising wins of the year on Sunday, shocking the Denver Nuggets 128-117. Just winning was surprising, considering the Nuggets are a significantly better team and the Warriors were playing their seventh straight game without Steph Curry. But before the game began, the Dubs faced a one-two combination of adversity, making the tough task downright daunting.
First, a few hours before the start of the game, the Warriors announced that recent trade acquisition Kristaps Porziņģis, who was scheduled to play his second game with the team, was ill and would not be able to make it to the arena. Steve Kerr made it seem like it was a very serious illness for Porziņģis, as the coach revealed that the big stretcher might not join the Warriors on their upcoming two-city road trip.
And then, just minutes before the game started, the Warriors announced that Draymond Green was dealing with a lower back injury and would not play.
So the Dubs, without Curry, Green, Porziņģis and Jimmy Butler III, faced the Nuggets 36-21, who were playing without Aaron Gordon, but who were otherwise healthy.
Golden State took the challenge and ran with it from the first tip. The starting five, Pat Spencer, De’Anthony Melton, Moses Moody, Gui Santos and Al Horford, came out firing, with incredible ball movement and Curry-like deep shots. If you blinked, you missed Horford hitting a pair of triples as the Warriors immediately took an 11-2 lead.
While the Warriors’ offense was firing on all cylinders, the consensus best player in the world, Nuggets center Nikola Jokić, was also dismantling Golden State’s defense. At the mandatory timeout, a little more than five minutes later, the Nuggets had scored six baskets… and Jokić had assisted on all of them. But most importantly, the Warriors still led, as their ball movement matched Jokić’s magic.
As the first quarter progressed, both offenses played wonderfully. Christian Braun feasted on the Dubs with cuts galore, while Santos did a little bit of everything to keep Golden State afloat. It looked like the Nuggets were about to erase the lead late, but Golden State finished the first quarter strong, with Santos and rookie Will Richard leading the way. To the surprise of everyone in the building, the Warriors led 39-27 after the first game and shot a stunning 9-for-19 from three-point range. Horford finished the quarter with 11 electric points, while Moody scored eight.
We always expect the favorite team to react after this kind of quarter. The Warriors got their surprising punch, but presumably the Nuggets would wake up, adjust and play better in the second. And indeed, Denver notably tightened its defense to open the second quarter, while first All-Star Jamal Murray got to work, eating into the lead.
But the Warriors didn’t let him nibble too much. The second quarter was a complete team effort, with all nine healthy players contributing across the board: There were deflections and loose balls recovered, rebounds gobbled up and plenty more threes. It was a grueling battle for them to stay on top, but they stayed there, and they led 76-67 at halftime, with a stunning 15 threes. Against all odds, with Curry sidelined, they set their season record for most points in the first half.
Unfortunately, the halftime lair undermined Golden State’s shooting ability. When they returned from the break, they had instead conceded three shots for turnovers. In fact, after nine threes in the first quarter and six more in the second, the Warriors didn’t make a single shot from beyond the arc in the third quarter.
And as that happened, the Nuggets fell apart. They were playing so well on offense, with Jokić now turning towards the goal rather than passing, to break down Golden State’s defense. On the other end, the Warriors started the frame moving the ball well, but just couldn’t make any shots. Yet as frustration mounted, they began to force the issue, and eventually the turnovers began to fill up the stat sheet.
At 7:05, a pair of free throws from Braun tied the score. It was the first tie since the score was 2-2 in the opening moments of the match. At 4:59, Denver finally took the lead.
At that point, it felt like the game was about to end. The Warriors had made their surprising run early on, and now the Nuggets had responded. When the talent gap is so large, the expectation is that once the dam is broken, it will no longer be possible to rebuild it. You hold on to the leash as long as you can, and once you lose it, it’s over. And indeed, that’s what it felt like, as the Nuggets pushed the lead to eight points, which somehow seemed insurmountable.
Turns out that wasn’t the case. Even though the Warriors trailed 101-95 early in the fourth quarter, they still brought energy and confidence into the fourth quarter.
Golden State opened the scoring in the final period with a Brandin Podziemski and-one. And then, at 10:02, they tied the game when Gary Payton II took the lid off the bucket and drained a three. It was the team’s first triple of the half and ended a streak of 14 consecutive misses from beyond the arc.
The Nuggets would soon have a five-point lead, once again giving many the feeling that the Warriors had exhausted their shooting to pull off an upset. And then they completely turned the game around. Payton made another three, and at 6:00, Moody scored at the rim in transition, tying the game and forcing the Nuggets to call a timeout.
This downtime did nothing. The Warriors got a stop, then Podziemski — who had his best quarter of the season — drained a three. Horford stole the ball from Jokić and Podziemski made a mid-range jumper. Melton stole the ball from Braun and, seconds later, made a transition layup. Just 1:18 after David Adelman called a timeout, he called another, with the Warriors now leading by seven points.
The second timeout did almost nothing either. On the opening possession, Melton stole the ball from Murray, then found Horford for another three. It capped a 15-0 Golden State run and gave the Warriors a 10-point lead with just over four minutes remaining. Suddenly, the Nuggets looked like they woke up in the middle of a basketball game and had no idea where they were, how they got there, or what they were supposed to do. Based on composure and execution, you wouldn’t be able to guess which team was in contention for the championship and which team was missing four of its best players.
It turned into a 20-2 run, as the Dubs pushed the lead to 13 points. Their offense was virtually non-existent in the final two minutes of the quarter, but their defense smelled blood and put the clamps on Denver. The Nuggets never got closer than nine, as Chase Center erupted in celebration of a 128-117 victory.
Moody led the scoring with 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including 4-of-9 from deep, and added seven rebounds and five assists in one of his best games of the year. Horford was simply sensational, scoring 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including 6-of-7 from three-point range. Horford only grabbed one rebound, but dished out seven assists, while recording three steals and two blocks. Despite the draw against Jokić, Horford did not make a mistake all evening. Melton also reached the 20-point mark, with 20 points on 7-of-18 shooting, plus four rebounds, two assists and four steals (Golden State had 14 on the night).
But the biggest star might have been Podziemski, who nearly had a triple-double. Podz shot just 7 of 16 from the field, but finished with 18 points, a career-high 15 rebounds, nine assists and a steal. He dominated the entire field in the fourth quarter, even though he was only 1 of 10 in the frame from the field. But he scored 15 of the team’s 33 points in the critical frame, while being a threat in front of the glass and playing exceptional defense. He helped the Warriors win the bench battle 44-28.
The Warriors overcame a typically superstar performance from Jokić, who had 35 points, 20 rebounds, 12 assists, three steals and two blocks. Murray added 21 points and Braun 18, but the Warriors forced 13 turnovers from this star trio. More importantly, the Nuggets shot just 8 of 31 (25.8%) from three-point range, while the Warriors, despite their cold third quarter, made 21 of 52 (40.4%).
With the win, the Warriors improve to 30-27 on the season. They now hit the road for a back-to-back down south, visiting the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday and the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday.
