Warriors drop trap game against Nuggets without Jokic
SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors suffered their worst loss of the Jimmy Butler Era.
Against the Nuggets team without Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Christian Braun, Golden State never got into gear.
The Warriors turned it over 10 times in the first half and missed 12 of their first 13 3-pointers, falling behind by as much as 15. Even when Butler tried to put the Warriors on his back in the fourth quarter, the Nuggets showed resilience.
By getting trap-gamed, the Warriors (39-29) missed a golden opportunity to pull within 2.5 games of the Nuggets in the Western conference standings. Steph Curry shot 6-for-21 and committed seven turnovers as Archbishop Mitty alum Aaron Gordon led Denver with a game-high 38 points in the Nuggets’ 114-105 win.
“Aaron Gordon played unbelievable, Russ controlled the game the whole time,” Curry said postgame. “(Michael) Porter Jr. got them off to a good start, kind of settled them in. They just had guys that played a lot harder than we did tonight. As much as we tried to comeback, every time we made a run it was like, ‘You’re down eight, you’re down 10, you’re down 12’ instead of threatening them with a real comeback.”
The Warriors missed 12 foul shots in the nine-point loss and shot 8-for-33 (24%) from behind the arc. They upped the intensity out of desperation in the fourth quarter, but never pulled ahead. Russell Westbrook dished 10 dimes in the first half and 16 overall in a triple-double, organizing the Nuggets without their three-time MVP.
“The minute we heard all those guys were out, it’s like, ‘Alright guys, here we go,’” Steve Kerr said postgame. “We’ve seen this a million times, this is how it works in the NBA: the other teams’ guys are going to go nuts. They can’t wait to play, there’s no pressure. Seen it a lot and we didn’t respond right away…The right team won, we didn’t deserve that. We were awful.”
With the 6-foot-8 Gordon operating as Denver’s center, rookie Quinten Post got played off the court. The Warriors had centered their game plan around stopping Jokic, but had to scrap that pregame when Denver ruled him out. The Nuggets spaced out the Warriors and capitalized on their turnovers.
Even after the Warriors recorded blocks or forced turnovers, they often gave the ball right back to Denver. Curry and Green forced multiple hit-ahead passes that got intercepted.
“Whenever we had the amount of turnovers we did, and not even the amount, the type — that can’t happen,” Curry said. “And obviously that starts with me.”
The Nuggets had answers any time the Warriors threatened to make a run. Gordon nailed a fadeaway 3-pointer in the corner and Westbrook added five quick points to keep the Nuggets’ lead in double figures late in the third quarter.
Denver’s confidence only grew. They solved the Warriors’ brief displays of zone defense and were unbothered by Gary Payton II’s inclusion in the lineup to start the second half.
An emphatic Butler rejection into the first row got the Chase Center crowd on its feet, then his reverse layup in traffic moments later had them roaring. But Buddy Hield missed a wide open 3 above the break that would’ve pulled the Warriors within six, making them 5-for-24 from deep.
Sensing the moment, Butler tried to take over in his own way. He dug out an offensive rebound under the basket before diving on the floor to save it from going out of bounds. Then he bullied his way to the foul line right after, hunching over with his hands on his knees in exhaustion.
But Butler, a career 83% foul shooter, missed both and four on the night. It wasn’t the Warriors’ night.
Butler added a 3 and added two foul shots to inch Golden State within eight. The Warriors went with their five best athletes on the court — Butler, Payton, Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga and Draymond Green — as Curry took his regular rest to start the fourth.
Green added a tough and-1 and a coast-to-coast slam to force a Denver timeout with 7:19. Kuminga (13 points, four assists, four rebounds) forced back-to-back turnovers while guarding Westbrook, continuing the tide-turn and pulling within three.
But like they did all game, the Nuggets pulled out responses. Westbrook hit a 3-pointer to return Denver’s lead to 10 and give him a triple-double. Then Curry missed two of his 10 3s in the final three minutes and turned it over for a seventh time on an ill-advised lob attempt.
The Warriors are now 14-2 with Butler in the lineup and have to play Milwaukee on the second night of a back-to-back after a tough defeat. Kerr described Curry as “exhausted right now.” Although Curry downplayed his fatigue and more so pointed to the sore back that has bothered him recently, it seems possible the Warriors hold him out of the Bucks game.
“Steph’s been carrying us for a month,” Kerr said. “He’s been amazing. He’s tired. We’ve got to get him some rest. You can see it, he doesn’t have his energy.”