Before the NBA’s two most recent champions clashed for the first time of the 2023-24 season, Klay Thompson paid his respects to the team that dethroned his Warriors.
The four-time champion Golden State guard, asked if he was surprised by the Nuggets’ 16-4 playoff record last season, marveled, “that’s pretty dominant.”
Thompson would know a thing or two about dominant championship runs. The Warriors set an all-time standard by going 16-1 in 2016-17, then they went 16-5 in the playoffs to repeat the next season. Even the 2021-22 Golden State team, regarded as far weaker than the franchise’s other title-winning rosters, went 16-6 and never played an elimination game.
“Yeah, it was surprising the way (the Nuggets) swept the Lakers,” Thompson said. “But give them credit. They have a great team. Nikola (Jokic) is a great player. … Jamal (Murray) had an incredible run in the playoffs. The whole team did, really. They all knew their roles, and they perfected them. So it’s exciting to have the opportunity to play them this early in the season. And a team that we’ll potentially see down the line, so it’s a fun matchup.”
The Warriors were two wins away from being Denver’s opponent in the Western Conference Finals, but Los Angeles eliminated them in a six-game second-round series before getting swept by the Nuggets. The previous season, Golden State eliminated Denver in the first round en route to its fourth championship with the Steph Curry-Draymond Green-Thompson core.
Thompson, 33, wasn’t particularly interested in the question of whether these Nuggets remind him of the early Golden State teams.
“Actually I don’t see very many (similarities),” he said. “I mean, their best player is a big man. Ours is a point guard. They spread the floor maybe the same as we do, with all the shooting they have.”
Entering the premier Wednesday matchup at Ball Arena, the Warriors had the No. 8 offensive rating (115.5), No. 12 defensive rating (110.2) and No. 7 net rating (5.3) in the NBA, led by Curry’s 30.9 point-per-game start on 47.5% shooting from beyond the arc. Denver entered at No. 3 with an 11.8 net rating.
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