Nuggets Vs. Warriors 1/14/2020

Coming into this game the Nuggets were 5-6 and we’re coming off of a loss to the Nets where Paul Millsap scored 22 points. The Warriors were coming into this game after a loss to the Pacers were Stephen Curry was limited to 20 points. To win this game the Nuggets needed Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray to have good games. To win this game the Warriors needed Stephen Curry to have a 25-30+ game. They also needed good defense against the 2nd best offensive team in the league. They would also need a nice second unit. Andrew Wiggins likely needed to keep playing well for the Warriors to win this game. The Nuggets were missing a good player in Michael Porter Jr who was averaging 19.5 points going into this game. To the game!

For the first points of the game Stephen Curry made a 3 from the wing. At 6:43 Bol Bol made a dunk to give the Nuggets a 7 point lead. At the 3 minute mark JaMychal Green made a 3 to give the Nuggets a 29-21 lead. With a minute to go in the first quarter JaMychal Green made a wide open 3 to give the Nuggets a 34-24 lead. After the first quarter the Nuggets were leading 37-24 while shooting 60% from the field and 57.1% from 3. They were being led by Paul Millsap and JaMychal Green each with 8 points. The Warriors were being led by Stephen Curry with 12. The Warriors had a lot of turnovers with 7 after the first quarter. The Warriors shooting splits were 44.4% from 2 and 37.5% from deep.

The second quarter started with JaMychal Green making a layup to make the score 39-24. At 7:43 Damion Lee made a layup to bring the Nuggets lead below 10. At 4:14 Curry got a 4 point play to make the score 55-48. To end the half Stephen Curry made a layup to cut the Nuggets lead to 11. After the half the Nuggets were leading 65-54. The Nuggets were dominating the offensive boards at halftime with 8 compared to the Warriors 3. Going into the 3rd Will Barton was leading the Nuggets in scoring with 11 and Stephen Curry was leading the Warriors with 18. The Warriors lessened their turnover issue from the first quarter to only 3 in the 2nd quarter. After the half the shooting splits were 50% from the field and 38.9% for the Nuggets and 46.3% from 2 and 42.9% from deep for the Warriors. To this point the Nuggets were doing well without Porter Jr. and considering Nikola Jokić had only 5 points in the first half. To the third!

The 3rd quarter started with a Nikola Jokić layup followed by a Wiseman dunk. With 7:12 to go Draymond Green got his 4th foul. With 3:45 to go in the 3rd Oubre Jr. made a 3 to cut the Nuggets lead down to 5. To end the quarter Facundo Campazzo made a 3 to give the Nuggets a 90-76 lead. Despite the fact that Stephen Curry had 29 points through the first 3 quarters the Warriors were still losing by 13 going into the final quarter. The shooting splits after the 3rd were 44.3% from the field and 37.5% from three for the Warriors and 47.2 from the field and 32.1% from 3 fo the Nuggets.

To start off the 4th quarter Andrew Wiggins made a hook shot to make the score 90-78. Around the 9 minute mark Will Barton got a 4 point play to give the Nuggets a 12 point lead. At 5:11 Steve Kerr called a timeout due to the Nuggets taking a 14 point lead. With a minute to go in the game the Nuggets were winning 112-100 after a layup from Nikola Jokić. The Nuggets won 114-104.

Leo’s Courtside Commentary: Though Stephen Curry was able to score 35 points, the Warriors were not able to defend Nikola Jokić letting him get a triple double. Stephen Curry just didn’t get much help from the second unit or Draymond Green. Another one of the main reasons that the Warriors lost was how many layups and dunks the Warriors missed. The Warriors also had 19 turnovers which was not ideal. Something that was ideal though was James Wiseman scoring 18 points. The shooting splits were 46.9% from the field and 37.9% from behind the line for the Warriors and 45.6% from 2 and 29.7% from 3 for the Nuggets. The fact that Michael Porter Jr. was out didn’t prove to be a big issue for the Nuggets though he was averaging 19.5 points before getting COVID-19. The Nuggets were also able to play good defense against the Warriors and hold them to only 104 points. The Warriors played a good game except for the first quarter which they lost by 13 points. This was a pretty disappointing game for the Warriors and shows a lot of room to grow.