Warriors star Stephen Curry made the 3,000th three-pointer of his career on Tuesday at the Chase Center
After easily playing their worst first half of the season on Tuesday at Chase Center, the Warriors walked into the locker room with a 24-point halftime deficit and worried about how they would navigate the remainder of the stretch without a tough stretch . Star forward Drummond Green.
The Warriors didn't ease all those worries amid a fiery second-half comeback against the Nuggets, but they did ride off an excellent fourth quarter from Stephen Curry to tie the game in the final minute before losing 89-86.
Rookie Jonathan Kuminga challenged Nuggets center Nikola Jokic on the rim with a potentially game-tying field goal attempt with five seconds to spare, but Jokic came up with a block to maintain Denver's win.
"Love Jab (Kuminga) is attacking the rim because he's one of the best athletes in the league, but he probably won't get that call at this stage of his career," head coach Steve Kerr said.
After a foul and a free throw from Nuggets guard Facundo Campazzo, veteran winger Andre Iguodala missed another potentially game-tying shot on the buzzer.
Golden State (27-7) held Denver down to just 29 second-half points with an impressive defensive performance, but a grueling first half at both ends of the floor and a brutal 16-for-31 effort at the free throw line cost them dearly. Proved. The Warriors' third home loss of the season.
"We missed 15 free throws, I missed five, which would haunt me all night," said Juan Toscano-Andersen, who started in Green's place.
Although Greene—who entered into health and safety protocols on Sunday—never took the court, Tuesday's matchup with Denver could serve as a case study proving his value to the Warriors.
A warrior offense that relies on Green to appear open and a warrior defense that often calls on Green to defend an opponent's best player, as well as a mediocre Denver team to control the paint. Entered Tuesday's game with a 16-16 record.
"He is one of the best players in the league," Kerr said. "But Denver is half their team without injuries and everything else, so that's no excuse. The whole league is missing people. We have to get better in terms of our offensive execution when Draymond is out. Obviously We run a lot of our stuff through that."
Green isn't a volume scorer, but his absence clearly robbed the Warriors of his offensive rhythm against the Nuggets as the team appeared out of sync while Curry was unable to make an open shot. Curry turned in his worst first-half performance of the season against Denver, scoring just two points from the field at 1-of-6, making four turnovers, including three in the first three minutes of the game.
Curry said, "Obviously a slightly different form with Draymond's dismissal, we know how much he delivers on the defensive, but offensively he's an amazing playmate and knows how to be in the right place." And it's a good read."
The offensive struggle was on full display in the final moments of the first half as several warriors stood motionless as Curry dribbled the clock before airballing a controversial three-point effort.
"We didn't make many adjustments strategically," Kerr said. “We didn't have a good space in the first half, but turnover was a real problem. We weren't locked inside, we weren't focused and we didn't play with the lead and they were aggressive from the start. ,
Kerr said pregame that rookie Cuminga could play a key role in driving Green's absence, and when Cuminga showed glimpses of promise during Tuesday's game, he also became a liability at the free throw line. The 19-year-old lottery choice thrust himself on offense and showed much-needed aggression driving toward the basket, but it failed to pay off as he made only 3-of-10 free throw attempts.
"He did really cool things," Kerr said. “He was active defensively. He attacked the rim. 10 Three throws, obviously struggled off the line, but that's okay, he'll figure it out.”
Curry entered Tuesday's game with 2,999 career three-point field goals, but didn't make the number 3,000 until starting the Warriors' final attempt in 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 trailed the fourth quarter by 13 points.
A flurry from Curry, who scored 16 of his team's highest 23 points in the fourth quarter, helped the Warriors close the gap, but Denver emerged with the win, thanks to Jokic's 22-point, 18-rebound performance. Thanks in large part for that.