Injuries cost Warriors a blockbuster matchup but open path for major standings rise
SAN FRANCISCO — The Warriors will have to wait to see how they truly stack up against the Denver Nuggets.
Three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, point guard Jamal Murray and ascendant two-way guard Christian Braun all missed Monday night’s game against the Warriors, dampening what was supposed to be a primetime matchup on national television. Jokic and Murray were listed as questionable before being ruled out and Braun was probable.
Steph Curry, who popped up on the injury report with back soreness, got cleared after warmups and started alongside Jimmy Butler, Moses Moody, Draymond Green and Quinten Post.
Although the game lost its luster with the injuries, it didn’t lose its significance in the standings. A Warriors win evens the head-to-head tiebreaker with Denver with the third and final matchup set for April 4. It would also draw Golden State 2.5 games back of the Nuggets, who currently occupy third place in the Western Conference.
The Warriors locker room is certainly aware of the ramifications.
“I expect us to come out flying,” Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said pregame. “It’s a big game for us, If we win, we are within (2.5 games) of Denver. We’ve got them one more time here at home. We lose this game, it’ll probably be impossible to catch them. So, big game, I’d expect our energy to reflect that.”
Without three of their top four players, the Nuggets started Aaron Gordon at center. The Archbishop Mitty alum is 6-foot-8.
Kerr spent the bulk of his pregame media session detailing the difficulties of slowing down Jokic, particularly now that the Warriors have strayed from playing Green and Kevon Looney together in the front court. He was eager to see how Post, the rookie, would fare against Jokic. But all of that flew out the window with the Nuggets’ official inactives.
Alongside Gordon, the Nuggets rolled with Russell Westbrook, Hunter Tyson, Michael Porter Jr. and Peyton Watson. Even simply without Jokic, the Nuggets are pedestrian; in 8.3 points per 100 possessions worse than their opponents with the center off the court.
The Warriors are fully healthy except for Brandin Podziemski, who is expected to rejoin the lineup Tuesday against Milwaukee on the second night of a back-to-back.
Golden State won seven straight games entering the matchup against short-handed Denver, but hasn’t earned separation because the team directly below them, Minnesota, is riding an eight-game win streak.