Warriors complete furious rally from 24-point deficit, lose in final seconds to Nuggets

After playing what could easily be considered their worst first half of the season on Tuesday at the Chase Center, the Warriors went to the locker room with a 24-point halftime deficit and concerns about how they’d navigate the remainder of a tough stretch without star forward Draymond Green.

The Warriors didn’t alleviate all of those concerns amid a furious second half comeback against the Nuggets, but they did ride an outstanding fourth quarter from Stephen Curry to tie the game in the final minute before losing 89-86.

Rookie Jonathan Kuminga challenged Nuggets center Nikola Jokić at the rim with a potential game-tying field goal attempt with under five seconds remaining, but Jokić came away with a block to preserve Denver’s victory.

“Love when (Kuminga is) attacking the rim because he’s one of the best athletes in the league, but probably not going to get that call at this stage of his career,” head coach Steve Kerr said.

Following a foul and a made free throw from Nuggets guard Facundo Campazzo, veteran wing Andre Iguodala missed another potential game-tying shot at the buzzer.

Golden State (27-7) held Denver to just 29 second half points with an impressive defensive showing, but a horrific first half on both ends of the floor and a brutal 16-for-31 effort at the free throw line proved too costly in the Warriors’ third home loss of the season.

“We missed 15 free throws, I missed five, that’s going to bother me all night,” said forward Juan Toscano-Anderson, who started in place of Green.

Though Green –who entered health and safety protocols on Sunday– never stepped on the court, Tuesday’s matchup with Denver could serve as a case study proving his value to the Warriors.

A Warriors offense that relies on Green to create open looks and a Warriors defense that often asks Green to defend an opponent’s best player while simultaneously controlling the paint appeared overwhelmed early by a mediocre Denver team that entered Tuesday’s game with a 16-16 record.

“He’s one of the best players in the league,” Kerr said. “But Denver is without half of their team with injuries and everything else, so it’s not an excuse. The whole league is missing people. We’ve just got to get better in terms of our offensive execution while Draymond is out. Obviously we run so much of our stuff through him.”

Green isn’t a volume scorer, but his absence clearly robbed the Warriors of offensive rhythm against the Nuggets as the team appeared out of sync while Curry was unable to generate open shots. Curry turned in his worst first half performance of the season against Denver, scoring just two points on 1-of-6 from the field while committing four turnovers, including three in the game’s first three minutes.

“A little different look obviously with Draymond out, we know how much he provides defensively, but offensively he is an amazing playmaker and knows how to be in the right spot and make the right read,” Curry said.

The offensive struggle was on full display in the closing moments of the first half as several Warriors stood motionless as Curry dribbled out the clock before airballing a contested three-point attempt.

“We didn’t make many adjustments strategically,” Kerr said. “Our spacing was not good in the first half, but the turnovers were a real problem. We weren’t locked in, we weren’t focused and we didn’t play with an edge and they were the aggressors from the beginning.”

Kerr said pregame that the rookie Kuminga could play a pivotal role in offsetting Green’s absence, and while Kuminga showed glimpses of promise during Tuesday’s game, he also became a liability at the free throw line. The 19-year-old lottery choice asserted himself on offense and showed much-needed aggression driving toward the basket, but it failed to pay off as he made just 3-of-10 free throw attempts.

“He did a lot of really good things,” Kerr said. “He was active defensively. He attacked the rim. 10 three throws, obviously struggled from the line, but that’s okay, he’ll figure that out.”

Curry entered Tuesday’s game with 2,999 career three-point field goals, but didn’t make No. 3,000 until launching the Warriors’ final attempt of the third quarter. The shot allowed Curry to match his NBA record and career-best streak of 157 games with at least one three-pointer, but the Warriors still opened the fourth quarter trailing by 13 points.

A flurry from Curry, who scored 16 of his team-high 23 points in the fourth quarter, helped the Warriors close the gap, but Denver emerged with a victory thanks in large part to a 22-point, 18-rebound performance from Jokić.

Source: www.mercurynews.com