The Denver Nuggets are in deep trouble now. The Golden State Warriors handed them a 126-106 loss as they were hitting on all cylinders once again. Games 1 and 2 were very similar. The Nuggets obtained the early lead, but the Warriors absolutely blitzed them in the second quarter. Denver was up 11, but Golden State went on a 16-0 run at the end of the first half. Denver would never see that lead again as the Warrior’s trio of shooters erupted. Curry finished with 34 points on 12-17 shooting and 5-10 from three. Thompson poured in 21 points while Poole added 29 points on five threes.
Nikola Jokic did all he could with 26 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 assists, but he had a plus/minus of -26. He was also ejected with 7:00 remaining in the 4th. It was a very frustrating game for Denver. Jokic got ejected, Monte even had a technical, and Barton and Boogie got into a verbal altercation on the bench. While three Warrior starters scored 20+ points, Denver’s second-leading scorers out of that starting group were Morris and Barton with 12. Denver’s role players need to play significantly better if they want to avoid the sweep. The Nuggets will play their next game at home on Thursday at 8:00 PM MT.
1st Quarter
- Denver began the game with great ball movement for a Barton three, and then Jokic followed with four straight free throws. Golden State finally hit their first shot of the game two minutes into the contest via a Wiggins layup
- Jordan Poole drilled a three, but Jokic responded with a layup for the 9-5 Denver lead. Poole then drove to the rack for a layup, but it would be matched again with a Jokic layup
- Jokic and Curry exchanged two’s after a Warriors timeout, but Barton gave Denver the upper hand with another triple. Barton then added a transition layup for the 18-9 Denver lead
- Andrew Wiggins knocked in a three, but Gordon matched it with a corner three on the next possession. Wiggins then hit another three, but the Nuggets answered again with a Jeff Green triple
- Jokic scored a hook shot, but the Warriors answered with threes from Curry and Otto Porter Jr. That dwindled Denver’s lead to 26-21 until Poole hit a mid-range jumper and Bjelica cut to the basket for a layup
Score: 26-25 Nuggets
Scoring leaders: Jokic - 12, Wiggins - 8
2nd Quarter
- Boogie started the quarter with one of two free throws, and then JaMychal Green knocked down two free throws. Klay Thompson drilled two mid-range jumpers to tie it up at 29, but Boogie responded with a three and a layup
- Bjelica scored on a layup, but Monte nailed a three and a layup to increase Denver’s lead to 39-31. JaMychal Green then hit a layup, and Morris added his own layup for the 14-2 Denver scoring run
- Bjelica cut to the basket again for a layup, and Poole scored a transition layup off a Denver turnover. Thompson scored four in a row which cut Denver’s lead to three, and then Curry followed with a driving layup
- Golden State took the 44-43 lead with another Curry layup and Poole followed with a three. Barton ended a 16-0 Warrior run with a layup, but Poole responded with his own layup
- Morris quieted the crowd with a mid-range jumper to get Denver within two, but Curry drilled a three on the next possession. Thompson and Jokic matched layups, but Curry nailed another three
Score: 57-51 Warriors
Scoring leaders: Jokic/Curry - 16
3rd Quarter
- Poole kicked off the quarter with a four-point play, and then Jokic bounced in a hook shot. Wiggins swished home a mid-range jumper, and then Poole was fouled on another three-point attempt for three free throws
- Golden State jumped out to a 67-54 lead before Barton drove to the cup for a layup. Wiggins would then slam home a wide-open dunk which forced a Denver timeout
- Jokic sank a mid-range jumper, but Green answered with a three. Jokic made another mid-range, and Morris drilled a three for Denver to get within ten at 72-62
- Jokic and Curry exchanged baskets, and then Thompson swished a corner three. Gordon responded with a tip-in layup, but Thompson countered with a mid-range jumper
- Jokic hit two free throws to get Denver within 11, but Thompson answered with another triple. Curry scored a layup off a Denver turnover as Golden State grabbed their largest lead at 84-68
- Curry drilled a three plus the foul for the four-point play. Bones responded with a three, but after a Denver turnover, Poole knocked in another three for the 21 point Warrior advantage
- Forbes sank a mid-range jumper, but Poole responded with another triple. Boogie tipped in his own miss for two, but Bjelica matched it with a layup
- Bones knocked in four free throws on two possessions, and in between, Curry hit two free ones as well. Poole found Bjelica for another layup, and then Bones converted two more free throws
Score: 101-81 Warriors
Scoring leaders: Poole - 27, Jokic/Curry - 26
4th Quarter
- Thompson and Rivers both hit threes to introduce the quarter. Bones followed by banking a three from the top of the arc, and then Poole drove to the rack for a layup
- Rivers scored a transition layup to decrease the lead to 18 at 107-89, but Payton II responded with two free throws. Jokic then recorded his second technical foul after another non-call and was ejected with 7:00 remaining
- Forbes hit a three from the top of the key, but Draymond countered with a layup. Gordon slammed home a dunk, but Curry matched it with a mid-range jumper and trumped it with a step-back three
- Forbes hit another three as the Nuggets emptied their bench. Rivers followed with a nine-footer and Cancar hit a three, but Lee would score four in a row plus a Toscano-Anderson layup
Score: 126-106 Warriors
Stat leaders
Points: Curry - 34
Rebounds: Jokic - 11
Assists: Poole - 8
Silent hero of the game: Jordan Poole - 29 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals on 10-16 shooting and 5-10 from three