For the last three seasons, Nikola Jokic has been kryptonite to the Golden State Warriors. Headed into this game, the Denver Nuggets had won the last eight meetings with the Dubs. So when the three-time MVP was ruled out of this game, alongside co-star Jamal Murray, there was the sense that the Warriors could snap the eight-game losing streak the Nuggets held over them.
That relaxed demeanor turned this game into the Dubs’ ninth loss in a row to Denver.
The Warriors fell to the Nuggets 114-105, snapping their seven-game win streak. Golden State’s energy was an issue from the very start. In his postgame press conference, Steve Kerr reprimanded his team’s lackluster performance.
“No good energy. No good body language,” Kerr told reporters. “Feeling sorry for ourselves early. It was a tough night.”
Kerr’s frustrations were early on, evidenced by a heated conversation with his assistants after the first quarter.
Part of those frustrations came from Aaron Gordon shredding the Warriors however he wanted. The Nuggets set the tone early on with Gordon attacking Dubs’ rookie Quentin Post relentlessly in the first quarter forcing the Dubs to change up their defensive assignments. But whether it was playing zone defense or putting Kevon Looney on him, the Warriors had no answers for Gordon. He finished with a game-high 38 points, alongside five offensive rebounds and three assists.
Despite the hot night from Gordon, the Warriors had a chance to take control of this game. After clawing back from a 12-point deficit at halftime, the Dubs made a run in the fourth quarter. Thanks to Jimmy Butler singlehandedly putting the Nuggets in the bonus, the Warriors cut the lead down to three with 6:48 left in the game.
But it was Gordon to the rescue again, sparking an immediate 7-0 response starting with a backbreaking three. From there, the Warriors couldn’t muster the stamina to avoid one of their worst losses of the season.
A “tired” Stephen Curry nursing a sore back
To make matters worse, Stephen Curry is now questionable for the backend of this back-to-back as the Warriors face the Milwaukee Bucks. It was a tough game for the two-time MVP. He finished with only 20 points on six of 21 shooting alongside seven turnovers. Curry was already questionable coming into this game with a sore back but losing this game while the 37-year-old played a grueling 36 minutes is a tough pill to swallow.
In the same postgame interview, Kerr told reporters Curry was “tired” immediately after being asked about his subpar performance.
“He’s tired. Steph’s been carrying us for a month. He’s been amazing. We gotta get him some rest,” Kerr said. “You could see it, he doesn’t have his energy right now.”
When asked a follow-up question regarding Curry’s availability versus the Bucks, Kerr continued to emphasize Curry’s fatigue.
“Potentially, I’ve got to talk to Rick [Celebrini] but he’s exhausted right now. We’ve got to absolutely consider giving him the night [off].”
In his postgame interview, Curry himself emphasized his sore back being the problem more so than the fatigue when asked about Kerr’s “tired” comments.
“I feel fine. Obviously, I didn’t play great at all, so everybody, including coach, is gonna try to figure out why,” Curry explained. “I feel like [it is] more so my back that I’ve been dealing with. See how that responds tomorrow.”
Turnovers, missed free throws, out-rebounded
But Curry’s bad game was far from the only problem with the Dubs in their loss to Denver. A lot of the Warriors’ bad habits from before the Butler trade reared their ugly heads in this loss.
For starters, Dubs had 20 turnovers, which translated into 24 points off of turnovers from Denver. They were the kind of turnovers coaches hate: sloppy, lazy passes that allowed the Nuggets to get easy layups on the fastbreak. Golden State’s sloppiness nullified the 22 turnovers they forced on defense out of a Nuggets team that didn’t look perfect themselves without their primary ballhandlers.
Secondly, the Warriors left a lot of meat on the bone at the foul line. In their last 16 games, the Dubs averaged 21.1 free throws made per game and 84.5% shooting from the line; both team stats ranked first in the league during that stretch.
But versus the Nuggets, they shot 15 of 27 on free throws. Chalk half of those misses up Jonathan Kuminga and Kevon Looney, each missing three free throws; they’ve been bad free-throw shooters all year long. But Butler, who averages 84.3% from the line for his career, was uncharacteristically six of ten from the line.
And then the death blow came on the boards. Denver out-rebounded the Warriors 53 to 38. They also turned 19 offensive rebounds into 18 second-chance points. It’s like Kerr said: the Nuggets had a whole different level of energy and fight, exemplified in the rebounding, which is 95% about effort and hustle.
A crowded Western Conference
The Warriors avoided a complete disaster last night thanks to the Indiana Pacers’ Obi Toppin walking off the Timberwolves with an overtime game-winner. The Pacers snapped Minnesota’s seven-game win streak, keeping the Dubs barely ahead of them in the race for the coveted sixth seed in the West.
But that’s where the good news ends as the Houston Rockets used the Warriors’ loss to get four and a half games ahead of them in the standings. This loss put the race for the fifth seed in doubt. The Nuggets, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Memphis Grizzlies now sit three and a half games ahead of the Warriors in the standings.
Things change fast in the West. 24 hours ago, the Warriors were feeling good with their seven-game win streak. Now they face what feels like a must-win game versus Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard walking into town.
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