OAKLAND, Calif. — The Nuggets can forget about the No. 1 seed.
With five games left, their focus — following Tuesday’s 116-102 drubbing to Golden State — should be on reinforcing their tenuous grip on the No. 2 seed.
The Nuggets were once again humbled by the two-time defending champion Warriors on the same night that the continued their blitz up the Western Conference standings. Denver’s lead was trimmed to just 1½ games over Houston, and it now trails the Warriors by essentially three games due to the tiebreaker.
If tired legs could be blamed for the Nuggets’ 37 percent shooting night, the schedule does Denver no favors. The Nuggets will take on San Antonio Wednesday night in what could be a first-round preview. Itap also the first of four consecutive games against playoff teams.
“It was turnovers the whole night,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “We couldn’t take care of the ball. You give up 21 points off (16) turnovers in this building you’re going to make it really hard to be in the game.”
Of all the starters, only played a relatively effective game with 17 points and five steals. scored 10 points and ripped four steals but undermined that effort with six turnovers. DeMarcus Cousins got the better of the all-star centers, leading the Warriors with 28 points.
Not even ’s third-quarter ejection sparked any sort of run for the Nuggets, who fell behind by 16 in the second quarter and never recovered. Golden State’s lead got up to as much as 30 in the second half.
After their last two meetings against the Warriors – losses by 31 and 17 points, respectively – Malone said he was more concerned about competing than the actual result.
“In Game 3 (vs. Golden State), here last time, they had just gotten blown out to Boston, worst home loss in the Steve Kerr era, we thought it was just another game,” Malone said. “We showed up and they punched us in the mouth once again. … So more than anything, win or lose, I want to see us come out and hit somebody first. I want to see us get off to a good start and not be down by 15 points three minutes into the game.”
Entering Tuesday, the Nuggets’ struggles over their last five games (2-3) could be boiled down to missed offensive opportunities, particularly from the 3-point line. Only once have they cracked over 95 points, and they’ve managed just 26 percent from 3-point range over that span.
shot just 1-of-9 from the field Tuesday as the Nuggets finished just 7-of-31 from 3-point range.
“Can’t make a shot,” Malone said earlier on Tuesday. “To me, itap black and white. There’s nothing like mysterious, ‘Letap dive really deep.’ Unfortunately, we have quite a few players on our roster right now probably struggling moreso than any time of the season then right now.”
Jokic, whose fourth-quarter ejection against Washington on Sunday severely handicapped any comeback attempt, diagnosed the offense similarly to Malone.
“I think we are getting good shots, open shots, but we just aren’t making it,” Jokic said. “Sometimes the offense, we hold the ball a little bit longer, but at the end of the day I think we are providing good shots. We just aren’t making it.”
What looked like a promising first half was quickly short-circuited by Durant, who ended the second quarter with a flurry of roar-inducing jams. He led the Warriors with 17 points in the first half as part of Golden State’s blistering 54 percent shooting display. As a result of a strong half from both Durant and Cousins in the paint, the Warriors carried a 59-43 lead into half.
The Nuggets, authors of a 35 percent shooting effort over the first two quarters, were undone by turnovers and missed open looks. started the game strong with 11 points in the first quarter, and Denver looked ready to match Golden State’s urgency before the Nuggets’ second unit went cold.
To Denver’s credit, it hardly looked shellshocked or timid out of the gate, but that didn’t lead to any prolonged production from any of the Nuggets’ starters.
