SAN FRANCISCO — The surprise holders of the second-best record in the NBA, the Warriors’ attitude entering the All-Star break shouldn’t have depended on one game. But facing injuries and defensive slippage that had led to losses in three of their past four contests, that’s where they found themselves entering their first-half finale Wednesday against the Denver Nuggets.
After a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Denver’s Monte Morris negated the clutch performance of Steph Curry, it will be hard to take anything but somber vibes into the All-Star break, unable to capitalize on a loss by third-place Memphis. The Warriors led for every moment but the very final seconds in a 117-116 loss to the Nuggets that sends Golden State into the All-Star break as losers of four of their past five, holding a slim 1.5-game lead on the second seed in the Western Conference.
The Warriors got a balanced offensive effort that featured seven players in double figures — led by Curry’s 25 — and built a lead as large as 16 points, but Denver spent the second half whittling it down until finally taking its first lead with 14 seconds left. Curry missed on a step-back 3-pointer that ricocheted long off the rim, off the tips of Andrew Wiggins’ fingers and into the hands of Morris, who had nobody between him and the go-ahead bucket.
Curry answered the following possession, taking his defender off the dribble, sinking a fadeaway jumper and completing the 3-point play after drawing the foul, giving the Warriors a 116-114 lead with 5.9 ticks to go. But Morris got free on the opposite end and drained the game winner, a true buzzer beater that muted whatever positive takeaways there were from the first 47 minutes.
Steve Kerr gave Gary Payton II his first start in more than a month in hope of injecting new energy into the lineup, and it appeared to work, as the Warriors raced out to a double-digit first-quarter lead and controlled the game through the first three quarters.
Despite the Warriors leading throughout, the crowd inside Chase Center was tense during the fourth quarter as Denver chipped away at a 16-point Warriors lead, which reached its apex at 77-61 midway through the third quarter, after Klay Thompson hit one of three 3-pointers in transition.
Morris’ penultimate bucket, the one that gave Denver its first lead, was only the Nuggets’ second basket in transition all night, as the Warriors finished with an 18-5 advantage on fastbreaks, a recent area of emphasis for the team.
With a minute to go, Jokic lobbed a pass to Aaron Gordon, who finished the alley-oop to pull the Nuggets within three points, 113-110, becoming the seventh team in eight games to drop 110 against the once-stingy Warriors defense still missing Draymond Green.
Despite Golden State's lack of size exposed again by a star center, Kerr maintained afterward that the Warriors didn’t need to bolster their roster with another big man.
Early on, Payton provided the spark Kerr was looking for and added an exclamation point as they widened their lead in the second quarter. After a close call prevented Payton from coming away with a clean block of Jokic early on, there was no whistle on Payton’s second rejection of the imposing reigning MVP.
Payton blocked the shot, then dropped to the hardwood to celebrate with a set of pushups. The crowd loved it, and the Warriors fed off it.
On the other end of the court, Payton got the best of Jokic by getting free on back cuts, reminiscent of plays earlier this season when Payton reeled off eight straight games scoring in double figures. With 12 on Wednesday, Payton reached double figures for only the second time in 20 games since.
The Warriors went small, inserting the 6-3 Payton for 6-8 Jonathan Kuminga. They were beaten on the boards, 58-45, for the fifth time in six games and allowed Jokic to gather 35 points and 17 rebounds. However, Payton’s early energy helped the Warriors race out to early leads of 12-4 and 17-8.
As the Nuggets made their push, though, it was Jokic who was forcing his will offensively. Defensively, the Nuggets employed a “hack-a-Looney” strategy to great success. Kevon Looney missed four of his six foul shots in the final three minutes and was visibly upset afterward.
Kerr hoped to experiment with the Warriors’ second line, too, by swapping in Payton for Kuminga. That allowed Kerr to pair Kuminga with Jordan Poole, and the two led a reinvigorated effort off the bench.
In a particularly impressive first-half sequence, Kuminga spun past DeMarcus Cousins to lay the ball up and in, knocked down one of two 3-pointers on the following possession, then grabbed a steal that almost led to a transition bucket (and it was Kuminga who eventually finished the possession with another basket).
Despite being relegated to the bench, it took Kuminga only until midway through the second quarter to secure his eighth straight game scoring in double figures. Earlier Wednesday morning, he learned that he would be a late addition to this weekend’s Rising Stars game, then displayed why later that night.
He combined with Poole (15 points) to lead a 41-point effort from the Warriors’ reserves, notably coming from only four players. In a possible preview of a playoff rotation, none of Damion Lee, Moses Moody or Juan Toscano-Anderson saw the court Wednesday.
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