The Golden State Warriors lost their first game of the season. The Denver Nuggets beat them 128-123. The Dubs saw Denver as a front-runner for victory in the Western Conference when they played the Nuggets at the Chase Center.
In an exciting first quarter, both teams tried to get ahead. The game started with the Nuggets up 10-5, but the Dubs answered with six consecutive points to take control.
Even though Draymond Green failed to score in the first quarter, he changed the game for the Warriors on Friday. Green was a force on defense. He slowed down Nikola Joki, the best player on the Nuggets, and pushed Golden State in transition.
Steve Kerr removed his veterans in the final two quarters.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr pulled all his veterans for the last two-quarter minutes because they were still on a time limit. After all, it was early in the season. The Nuggets’ bench took advantage, and by the end of the first quarter, the Dubs were behind 40-34.
In the frontcourt, Kerr tried out a lineup with James Wiseman, JaMychal Green, and Jonathan Kuminga. The team’s offense depended on Jordan Poole, but the Nuggets did an excellent job keeping the ball out of Poole’s hands the whole game.
Based on the OKBET News, Green and Kevon Looney both got in trouble for too many fouls, meaning Wiseman had to be the Warriors’ defensive anchor for even longer than planned. Wiseman has looked better than ever this season, but his defense still needs a lot of work.
All of these things made the second quarter a disaster for Golden State. In the first quarter, the Nuggets were on fire from three-point range. They had finished the first half by 8-for-14 from deep. On the other hand, the Dubs were only 5 for 22 from three-point range and scored only 18 points in the second quarter. At halftime, Denver was ahead 70–52.
The warriors start to trim the deficit quickly.
In the third quarter, the Warriors‘ starters immediately cut into their deficit by shooting better from the outside. Green picked up his fourth foul early on, but Kerr gambled that he wouldn’t get his fifth, and it paid off. Before returning to their bench, the Dubs cut the Nuggets’ lead to seven.
The Warriors were getting closer to making a comeback, but Joki seem to create a fantastic play every time they got close. Then Curry showed some fire by making back-to-back threes in the last three minutes to bring the Warriors within five points.
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