It was tough to conceive given their championship pedigree, but Tuesday’s matchup meant something to the Warriors.
Not only was first place in the conference on the line, but the Warriors hadn’t forgotten how the Nuggets beat them on a game-winning block in the third game of the season.
“Itap a big game,” Steph Curry said Tuesday morning. “We understand what happened last time we were here.”
The idea of the Warriors being potentially bored with the regular season didn’t seem plausible after they scorched the 3-point line for an NBA-record 51 points in the first quarter and rode that cushion to an emphatic 142-111 win.
“Anytime you make a mistake against this team, they seem to capitalize every single time,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “51 points in a quarter is mind-boggling. I can’t wrap my head around that number. We don’t have that level yet. We’re trying to find, see if we have that level.”
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If these two teams do meet in the playoffs, the Warriors will have left an indelible imprint on the Nuggets’ psyche with Tuesday’s shellacking. Curry mixed in several of his signature 3-point bombs for 31 points and eight 3-pointers, drained 13 of his 27 in the demoralizing first quarter, and Klay Thompson, previously mired in a shooting slump, was ruthless with 31 points on just 19 shots from the field.
Together, the Warriors shot 21 of 39 from the 3-point line in what amounted to a blazing, insurmountable number.
“Itap them catching fire,” Jamal Murray said. “We were No. 1 in the West, so they were gonna come in and have something to prove and come in and play like defending champs. And today we weren’t ready to defend that spot.”
Even though it was a sobering night for the Nuggets (29-14), Durant said they weren’t trying to send any messages.
“I think they know who we are,” he said.
, who struggled to contain Curry on the defensive end, scored all 21 of his points in the first half as he tried to will the Nuggets to a reasonable margin. Plagued by early foul trouble, failed to assert himself as he has done numerous times this January and finished with 17 points, eight assists and four rebounds. led the team with 22 and six 3-pointers, but most of his points came with the game already out of hand.
The loss, which dropped the Nuggets to 29-14 overall, also snapped the Nuggets’ 12-game winning streak at the .
Tuesday’s game was supposed to be a litmus test for the Nuggets, a benchmark after their sterling first half of the season.
“I think you always want to measure yourself against the best,” said Malone, who spent two seasons as an assistant coach for the Warriors prior to the start of their championship run. “Letap be honest, that allows you to truly see where you’re at and how much further you have to go. They’re a team that everybody’s tried to emulate the last couple of years because of their success and how they’ve done it.”
The Nuggets have designs on recreating the Warriors (30-14) blueprint through shrewd drafting, timely free-agent acquisitions and organic growth.
“That’s how the Warriors did it,” Malone said. “They did it slowly but surely and that led to multiple championships. I’d love to do that here in Denver as well.”
Durant, who can become a free agent this summer, said thatap one of the reasons the Nuggets have become an “elite” team in his mind even if that was rarely on display Tuesday.
“They’re not an up-and-coming team anymore,” Durant said. “You don’t fire your coach after a losing season. You be patient with them. You’re patient with your young players and let them make mistakes and let them grow. , (Will) Barton, Jokic, Malik Beasley, . You’ve got to let the dudes play in order for you to build something. They waited for that process to unfold. It starts at the top with the ownership to the front office.”
It was hard to imagine that potential as the Warriors threatened to run the Nuggets out of the gym in the first half.
The Warriors’ first-quarter record for points also featured another franchise-record of 10 3-pointers. Durant, Thompson and Curry combined for 42 points over the blistering, awe-inspiring shooting display. The Nuggets’ offense wasn’t the problem — they shot 60 percent from the field themselves — but were buried under an avalanche of 3-pointers and uncontested dunks. There will undoubtedly be film to analyze and tweaks to make from a defensive perspective, but the Warriors just caught fire.
Denver momentarily cut it to 12 points on a Murray 3-pointer late in the second quarter only to concede another Warriors run and enter halftime down 79-60.
