The Chase Center might as well be nicknamed the House of Horrors. Thatap what itap felt like on Denver’s last two visits to the Bay Area.
The Nuggets lost Will Barton to a hamstring strain less than a minute into Friday nightap contest. Four quarters later, they fell 118-97 to the Warriors, snapping their winning streak at four.
Barton was the third Nuggets guard to go down in the last six games following Jamal Murray’s ACL tear and Monte Morris’ hamstring strain. Barton didn’t return, and concern only grew when Nuggets coach Michael Malone told ESPN Barton said he felt a “pop” in his hamstring. Barton was scheduled for an MRI in the morning, according to a league source.
But after the game, Malone was fuming at his team’s lack of defensive effort.
“All you guys are fishing for we lost this game because of Will’s injury,” Malone said. “Don’t make that excuse for us. Will Barton went down. He’s hurt and we feel for him. But we all get paid on the 1st and 15th. Do your job. We didn’t do our job tonight.”
Now 38-21 on the season, the Nuggets have little time to recuperate ahead of Saturday’s home game against Houston.
Michael Porter Jr. gave the Nuggets a fleeting chance in the second half with a flurry of 3-pointers, but Golden State’s own flamethrower, Steph Curry, nearly matched him shot for shot. Porter had a team-high 26 points on seven 3-pointers. Curry finished with 32 points and several dagger 3s late in the fourth.
Nikola Jokic was uncharacteristically off, logging just 19 points, six assists and six rebounds. Without Barton in the lineup, Aaron Gordon became a more featured asset in the offense. He managed 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting.
None of those offensive performances mattered given the defensive breakdowns on Denver’s side. The Warriors shot 53% from the field, finishing with 39 assists on 45 made field goals.
Denver’s remaining guards — Facundo Campazzo, Austin Rivers, P.J. Dozier and Shaq Harrison — all did their best to corral Curry in the third quarter, but the Warriors’ sniper caught a rhythm. He cut Denver’s defense to shreds, pouring in 12 points as the Warriors stretched their lead to 86-74 going into the fourth.
If it wasn’t Curry, then it was Draymond Green’s passes slicing apart the Nuggets’ defense. Green had 15 assists through three quarters.
Gordon, Porter and Jokic tried to keep pace with Curry’s spurt, but Denver’s offense grew stagnant. In the third quarter alone, the Nuggets managed just 1-of-10 from the 3-point line.
Less than two hours before Friday nightap tip, Nuggets coach Malone extolled his team’s resiliency in the wake of Jamal Murray’s injury.
“Whatap impressed me most is the fact that every time we have faced adversity, we’ve never run from it,” Malone said. “We’ve embraced the opportunity. We’ve asked other people to step up and fill that void created by the injury by committee. I think in the four games since Jamal hurt himself right here in this building, we’ve seen countless examples of that. I also think it speaks to Nikola’s MVP status, where you can lose your second-best player and not miss a beat because you know you have Nikola Jokic.”
The pre-game comment felt prescient following Barton’s quick exit.
“Itap been our identity in the six years I’ve been here,” Malone said. “You’re going to face adversity, injuries are going to happen. How do you handle that? Do you waste time making excuses? Did I go to our team and say, ‘Well, Jamal is out for the season, so our goals have changed?’ No. It may be harder to attain those goals, but our goals are still the same.”
For a moment, the Nuggets looked shell-shocked at their misfortune. The start of the second quarter was a mess that threatened to deteriorate quickly. But behind Denver’s bench unit, particularly the feisty play of Rivers and Harrison, momentum started to swing. Denver’s 3-pointers started falling, and the Nuggets re-grouped after a tenuous stretch. Given their backcourt predicament, it felt like a small victory to be down just 54-50 going into halftime.
Jokic, with eight points and three assists, steadied the offense, while his wings, Gordon and Porter, found their 3-point stroke. Together, the two combined for five 3-pointers on 10 tries.
Defensively, Campazzo harassed Curry and helped limit him to only seven points in the first half.
