SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry scored 34 points and Andrew Wiggins added 23 but the Golden State Warriors came up short in their 128-123 loss to the Denver Nuggets Friday night.
The Warriors trailed by as many as 20 points after halftime, but they couldn’t complete a comeback in the game’s final minute.
Klay Thompson hit a 3-pointer to pull within four points with about 27 seconds remaining. The Nuggets turned the ball over and Jordan Poole laid it in topull within one with 14 seconds left.
But the Warriors were caught sleeping, and Nikola Jokic threw a nearly full-court pass to Bruce Brown for an easy dunk to make it 126-123. And the Nuggets held on for their first win of the season.
The Warriors had the Nuggets’ number in the first round of the playoffs this spring, but Denver held the advantage for most of Friday’s game.
The Chase Center crowd was quiet for most of the night before erupting in the fourth quarter when a JaMychal Green putback dunk pulled Golden State within six points with less than five minutes remaining. Fans loudly booed when Jokic at the foul line before he drained a free throw to make it 114-105.
Curry hit back-to-back 3-pointers to pull within five points with two minutes left. But the Warriors’ defense couldn’t get enough stops to build on their offensive momentum.
The Nuggets led by as many as 20 points after halftime, but slowly but surely Golden State’s starters chipped away at Denver’s lead.
The Warriors outscored the Nuggets 36-28 at the start of the second half, but Denver was in front 98-88 heading into the fourth.
The Warriors may have successfully contained Nuggets star Jokic in the first-round matchup last spring, when Golden State beat Denver 4-1 before becoming the eventual champions. But the reigning league MVP and the rest of Nuggets starters did damage Friday. Jokic finished with his first triple-double of the season, recording 26 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
Each of the Warriors starters finished positive plus-minus, but the Warriors’ secondary unit struggled mightily on defense.
The first quarter was a shootout, with both teams making a lot of shots while having very few stops. James Wiseman’s alley-oop dunk put the Warriors up 31-30 with 1:39 left in the first quarter, but that was the last time Golden State held the advantage.
The Nugget outscored the Warriors 30-18 in the second quarter, taking a 70-52 lead into the locker room.
Thompson finished with 16 points in 24 minutes, a slight increase from the 20 minutes he played in the season opener Tuesday. Draymond Green added 13 points and nine assists in 27 minutes, also a bump from the first game.
The Warriors (1-1) have a day to regroup before the Mike Brown-led Sacramento Kings come into town Sunday.
