golden state warriors 122, denver nuggets 114
24-1 run buries Denver
Golden State’s surge ensures fifth loss in six games for Nuggets
Oakland, Calif. – The Nuggets suffered their longest 7 minutes and 10 seconds of the season Monday night.
The Nuggets were outscored 24-1 during that key span in the third quarter and couldn’t recover during a 122-114 loss to the Golden State Warriors at the Arena. The Nuggets (26-24) have dropped five of the past six games, including four straight on the road.
“When you lose, it’s always disappointing,” Denver guard Earl Boykins said. “The effort we put out in the third quarter was horrible.”
Nuggets coach George Karl said before the game that he was disappointed about his team’s defense recently.
Sure, Denver limited Portland to 20 points in the fourth quarter in a 105-104 win Saturday. But in the four-game losing streak that preceded that win, the Nuggets allowed 104.5 points per game. Denver entered the game 20th of 30 teams in the NBA in defense, allowing 99.1 points.
“Psychologically, it’s draining,” Karl said of Denver’s defense before the game.
Karl’s brain continued to be drained on this night.
The Nuggets were down 28-25 by the end of the first quarter after Golden State (22-25) received 11 of Baron Davis’ 23 points. The Nuggets outscored the Warriors 33-24 in the second quarter to take a 58-52 halftime lead. Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony scored 19 of his 34 points by the half.
The intensity of the game rose dramatically late in the second when Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin nearly went after Warriors forward Mike Dunleavy Jr. after a hard foul.
With 26.6 seconds left in the second and Denver ahead 54-49, Dunleavy went for the ball but appeared to hit Martin in the head. A disgruntled Martin got up and began to go after Dunleavy, but was held back. Dunleavy, however, was hit with a flagrant foul. Warriors forward Troy Murphy also was given a technical for arguing the call.
A made technical free throw by Anthony and 1-of-2 free throws by Martin pushed Denver ahead 56-49.
The Nuggets were ahead 68-60 with 8:28 left in the third quarter after a Greg Buckner 3-pointer. But the Warriors responded with a 24-1 run finalized by a three-point play by Mickael Pietrus with 1:18 left in the third to take an 84-69 lead.
The only Nuggets score during that span was a free throw by Anthony at the 5:17 mark.
“Everything was going their way,” Anthony said. “Their shots were falling. We thought we were supposed to get some calls we didn’t get.”
Said Golden State coach Mike Montgomery: “The third quarter got moving. We got aggressive. We got moving, got some turnovers and did what we needed to do.”
Martin (14 points, eight rebounds) ended the Nuggets’ field-goal drought with a running layup with 1:01 left in the third. Denver missed 12 field-goal attempts during the stretch that lasted 7:10.
“We had a 68-60 lead and the next eight points were gifts,” Karl said. “The first eight points we kind of gave them points. We gave them shots.”
Andre Miller’s layup with 32.8 seconds left in the quarter trimmed the Warriors’ lead to 84-73. But Pietrus added a 3-pointer with 11.5 seconds left to make it 87-73. Anthony also missed all six of his shots in the quarter as the Nuggets were outscored 35-15.
The Nuggets trimmed the deficit to 111-105 after two Boykins free throws. A 3-pointer followed by a layup by Anthony got Denver within 119-114 with 23.8 seconds left. Pietrus, however, sealed Golden State’s win with a dunk with 7.1 seconds left.
Staff writer Marc J. Spears can be reached at 303-820-5449 or mspears@denverpost.com.
