Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Photo Stephen Curry grabs a rebound during the first half of the Warriors' win over the Nuggets on Saturday.
Stephen Curry came back, only to leave early. Steve Kerr didn’t come back. And the Nuggets came all the way back, erasing a 26-point first-half deficit to force the Warriors into overtime.
Still, the home winning streak survived.
Draymond Green and Klay Thompson led the Warriors to a dramatic, 111-108 victory over Denver on Saturday night. It was Golden State’s 34th consecutive home win, in front of the 150th straight sellout at Oracle Arena.
Green had 29 points, 17 rebounds and 14 assists, while Thompson added 26 points. Danilo Gallinari led the Nuggets with 24 points.
Denver took its first lead all night early in overtime, but the Warriors moved back ahead after Green made a driving layup and then passed to Ian Clark for a floater. Kenneth Faried muscled home a basket to tie the game at 106-106.
That’s when Marreese Speights took a charge from Denver’s Will Barton. Speights followed that by sinking a free-throw line jump shot to push the Warriors ahead 108-106.
Back came Faried, scoring inside again to tie the game at 108-108. Thompson then sliced into the lane and softly dropped home a driving layup to give the Warriors a two-point lead with 15.6 seconds left.
Barton - who had tied the game at the end of regulation - missed a shot with Andre Iguodala draped all over him. Thompson made one of two free throws with 6.9 seconds left, giving the Warriors a 111-108 lead and leaving the Nuggets with another chance.
But Barton missed a three-point shot at the buzzer, with Thompson contesting him.
Curry didn’t look much like Stephen Curry in his abbreviated return. That didn’t stop the Warriors, mostly because Green played a lot like Draymond Green.
The Warriors, though, faced larger issues - a spate of injuries headlined by Curry. He left the game late in the second quarter and did not return; the Warriors announced he sustained a left shin contusion.
Curry missed two games earlier in the week with an injury in the same area. He apparently got hit there again during his 14 minutes on the court Saturday night.
The Warriors led by 16 points at halftime, when they announced Curry would not return. The Nuggets steadily chipped away, ultimately trimming their deficit to 100-98 on Faried’s old-fashioned three-point play with 3:21 left.
Thompson’s back shot pushed the Warriors’ lead to four, but Barton came up big down the stretch. His dunk made the score 102-100; Iguodala missed an off-balance-jumper; and then Barton’s 10-footer with 0.9 seconds left sent the game into overtime.
Much earlier, Green celebrated Curry’s return with a fine, first-quarter impersonation of the reigning MVP. Green made his first four three-point shots and finished the quarter with 18 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Not coincidentally, the Warriors leaped out to a 37-13 lead - their largest advantage after the first quarter since Nov. 2, 1991, when they held a 30-point lead against Sacramento.
Curry was uncommonly subdued, becoming a playmaker more than a dynamic shooter. Maybe the first two possessions of the game offered a clue: He lofted an alley-oop pass to Iguodala, then whipped a pass to Green for his inaugural three-pointer.
Forty seconds into the game, Curry had two assists.
He eventually scored on a fast-break layup, then soon thereafter added a three-point shot. That gave him at least one three-pointer in 104 consecutive regular-season games, the second-longest such streak in NBA history (behind Kyle Korver at 127).
Late in the second quarter, though, it became clear Curry was still hurting. He hobbled through two possessions, prompting interim head coach Luke Walton to replace him with Clark.
Curry jogged to the bench, but his gait was awkward. He didn’t even return to the bench for the second half.
The Nuggets were wading through their own injury issues. Rookie point guard Emmanuel Mudiay remained out with a sprained ankle, though Gallinari - who missed the previous six games with his own sprained ankle - returned to action for the first time since Dec. 20.
More significantly, Faried somehow got injured in the game’s final, frantic minute. He was placed in a neck brace and taken off the court in a stretcher about 10 minutes after the final buzzer.
Stephen Curry came back, only to leave early. Steve Kerr didn’t come back. And the Nuggets came all the way back, erasing a 26-point first-half deficit to force the Warriors into overtime.
Still, the home winning streak survived.
Draymond Green and Klay Thompson led the Warriors to a dramatic, 111-108 victory over Denver on Saturday night. It was Golden State’s 34th consecutive home win, in front of the 150th straight sellout at Oracle Arena.
Green had 29 points, 17 rebounds and 14 assists, while Thompson added 26 points. Danilo Gallinari led the Nuggets with 24 points.
Denver took its first lead all night early in overtime, but the Warriors moved back ahead after Green made a driving layup and then passed to Ian Clark for a floater. Kenneth Faried muscled home a basket to tie the game at 106-106.
That’s when Marreese Speights took a charge from Denver’s Will Barton. Speights followed that by sinking a free-throw line jump shot to push the Warriors ahead 108-106.
Back came Faried, scoring inside again to tie the game at 108-108. Thompson then sliced into the lane and softly dropped home a driving layup to give the Warriors a two-point lead with 15.6 seconds left.
Barton - who had tied the game at the end of regulation - missed a shot with Andre Iguodala draped all over him. Thompson made one of two free throws with 6.9 seconds left, giving the Warriors a 111-108 lead and leaving the Nuggets with another chance.
But Barton missed a three-point shot at the buzzer, with Thompson contesting him.
Curry didn’t look much like Stephen Curry in his abbreviated return. That didn’t stop the Warriors, mostly because Green played a lot like Draymond Green.
The Warriors, though, faced larger issues - a spate of injuries headlined by Curry. He left the game late in the second quarter and did not return; the Warriors announced he sustained a left shin contusion.
Curry missed two games earlier in the week with an injury in the same area. He apparently got hit there again during his 14 minutes on the court Saturday night.
The Warriors led by 16 points at halftime, when they announced Curry would not return. The Nuggets steadily chipped away, ultimately trimming their deficit to 100-98 on Faried’s old-fashioned three-point play with 3:21 left.
Thompson’s back shot pushed the Warriors’ lead to four, but Barton came up big down the stretch. His dunk made the score 102-100; Iguodala missed an off-balance-jumper; and then Barton’s 10-footer with 0.9 seconds left sent the game into overtime.
Much earlier, Green celebrated Curry’s return with a fine, first-quarter impersonation of the reigning MVP. Green made his first four three-point shots and finished the quarter with 18 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Not coincidentally, the Warriors leaped out to a 37-13 lead - their largest advantage after the first quarter since Nov. 2, 1991, when they held a 30-point lead against Sacramento.
Curry was uncommonly subdued, becoming a playmaker more than a dynamic shooter. Maybe the first two possessions of the game offered a clue: He lofted an alley-oop pass to Iguodala, then whipped a pass to Green for his inaugural three-pointer.
Forty seconds into the game, Curry had two assists.
He eventually scored on a fast-break layup, then soon thereafter added a three-point shot. That gave him at least one three-pointer in 104 consecutive regular-season games, the second-longest such streak in NBA history (behind Kyle Korver at 127).
Late in the second quarter, though, it became clear Curry was still hurting. He hobbled through two possessions, prompting interim head coach Luke Walton to replace him with Clark.
Curry jogged to the bench, but his gait was awkward. He didn’t even return to the bench for the second half.
The Nuggets were wading through their own injury issues. Rookie point guard Emmanuel Mudiay remained out with a sprained ankle, though Gallinari - who missed the previous six games with his own sprained ankle - returned to action for the first time since Dec. 20.
More significantly, Faried somehow got injured in the game’s final, frantic minute. He was placed in a neck brace and taken off the court in a stretcher about 10 minutes after the final buzzer.
No comments:
Post a Comment