The Warriors couldn’t close out the deal on Sunday afternoon in Denver.
Through the initial three games of the first round Western Conference playoff matchup against the Nuggets, Golden State completely outclassed its opponent. Try as he might, Nikola Jokic couldn’t stop the buzzsaw – until Sunday.
Facing elimination, Jokic dropped 37 points to help the Nuggets win 126-121 and ward off the Warriors’ sweep attempt in Game 4.
The Nuggets deserve credit for rising to the occasion, but the Warriors also had a lot of self-inflicted wounds. Klay Thompson flirted with foul trouble all night. Draymond Green fouled out with two minutes left and had to watch crunch time from the bench. Steph Curry missed four free throws for the first time in his career. Jordan Poole finally got bottled up.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said the allure of the sweep might have thrown his team out of whack.
“We took ourselves out of the game because we were too excited,” Kerr said. “Part of winning playoff basketball games on the road is executing, being poised, understanding what’s happening and sticking to the game plan.”
Green picked up some emotional fouls, including a technical just 40 seconds into the game after tussling with Aaron Gordon and poking Jokic in the eye. He finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and a team-high +18 in plus/minus while continuing to have a massive impact on the series. But Green picked up his sixth foul with 2:05 left in a one-point game, after the Yet-To-Be-Nicknamed lineup of Draymond, Steph, Klay, Poole and Andrew Wiggins trimmed a 10-point deficit to a one-point deficit in about six minutes on the floor together.
The Warriors even held a brief lead with 1:22 left after Steph knocked down a long two.
But Otto Porter Jr.'s inbounds pass to Wiggins with 31.6 seconds left was intercepted by Austin Rivers and killed the Warriors' chances at a comeback. Kerr said he was going for a two-for-one and would have called another play if he had another chance.
"I would like that play back," Kerr said.
Alas, Will Barton knocked down a 3-pointer at the other end to push the game to its final margin.
Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the Nuggets went on a 7-0 run to close out the game while Draymond was on the bench. After the loss, Green took a big-picture view of the situation.
“We just gotta play better,” Green said. “This isn’t the worst thing for us. We get more reps together, more playoff-type reps together. It isn’t all bad.”
As Green noted, the Warriors are still trying to reacquaint themselves with the full unit after Curry missed the final 12 games of the regular season following long absences to Thompson and Green.
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Kerr was forced to make an early adjustment to his rotation when Thompson picked up his second foul with 8:14 left in the first quarter. Thompson also picked up a head-scratching foul near the end of the first half when he was substituted in with 0.6 seconds left and got caught trying to push off during an inbounds play.
“I gotta be smarter than that,” Thompson said. “Especially with my experience. But we have another opportunity at home. It’s not the end of the world. Everyone would have loved to sweep, but the opportunity to close out in front of our fans is still special.”
The Nuggets also got just enough production beyond Jokic and bothered the Warriors with their pesky defense, even though Golden State shot 50 percent from the floor. Denver coach Michael Malone had his crew ready to respond. Monte Morris had a hot afternoon shooting en route to 24 points, Gordon finished 21 and Bones Hyland added 15 high-energy points off the bench, too.
Poole finally cooled down and was limited to just 11 points as the Nuggets played very physical with him all game. Wiggins had an active contest en route to his 20-point, six-rebound performance. Despite the foul trouble, Thompson still dropped 32 points in 31 minutes while going 7-of-11 from the field. Curry dropped 33 points in 37 minutes off the bench and could be back in the starting lineup come Wednesday night’s 7 p.m. PT tip-off for Game 5.
“You gotta assume as you go through the playoffs, it’s not just gonna be a smooth ride,” Curry said. “Adversity within the game, adversity if you lose a game. How you bounce back will show what your DNA is made of.”
