That was a true mess of a game. Things were weird from the jump. There were double technicals within 40 seconds and the referees seemed to take that as an opportunity to make their mark on the game throughout.
The referees were not the reason the Warriors lost, but they certainly slowed the pace and the Nuggets used that to their advantage in a 126-121 Warriors loss.
The fouls and the free throws
Everyone loves free throws, right? No? Well, that’s what was on the menu Sunday afternoon.
Zach Zarba’s crew was involved at an unceasing rate. There were eight fouls called against the Warriors in the first quarter, including two against Klay Thompson in four minutes after he scored 8 early points. The Nuggets committed four first-quarter fouls.
Zarba came into this one saying to himself, “It’s Zach Zarba time.”
This isn’t even about which team it benefited. Now, in general, fouls have been benefiting the Nuggets more because they prevent the Warriors from getting in a flow, but also because Denver has simply been more effective from the line. Golden State has been missing an inexplicable amount of free throws.
The point is that no one wants to see the referees take over a game and they played an outsized role in defining it.
That all added up in the final two minutes, when Draymond Green picked up his sixth personal foul and fouled out of the game, leaving the Warriors without him for the waning seconds.
When you call two quick fouls on Thompson and another ticky tack fourth on him with 0.6 seconds left in the half, you’re making an unnecessary imprint on the game.
From a neutral point of view, all that time at the line is objectively painful to watch. That’s not to say that all of these fouls were poorly called, but that late one on Thompson in the second quarter was, and there was a general overeagerness to use the whistle on Sunday.
Now, the real issue for the Warriors is that they struggled with all the fouls because they couldn’t take advantage at the line.
There’s been a bizarre level of free throw failure for Golden State, especially as it pertains to Stephen Curry. Curry missed 23 free throws in the entirety of the regular season. So far in this series, he’s missed eight, including four on Sunday.
Alone, it’s not enough to lose the Warriors games, but as a team, they’re missing a stunning amount of freebies.
Golden State went 23-of-32 (71.9 percent) from the line compared to 29-of-36 for Denver (80.6 percent). In a grueler like Sunday’s game, those free throws can be the difference.
Sloppiness, pace and improved Nuggets shooting costs the Warriors
The Warriors always appeared poised to make a run at every juncture. Klay Thompson, who had and efficient 32 points on 12-of-20 shooting, was hot enough to keep the heat on the kettle. And eventually, they made that run, taking the lead late in the fourth quarter.
But Golden State made way too many mistakes in the first half, turnover the ball over frequently and employing poor shot selection. A fair bit of that criticism goes towards Jordan Poole, who was back to his old habits of over-dribbling.
It was an uncharacteristic performance from Poole, who grimaced a fair few times, and didn’t move the ball like he showed the propensity to over the last few months of the season.
When Golden State had the chance to tie the game, they opted for a head-scratching, 2-for-1 lob attempt that was never available. Steve Kerr lamented the play call after the game.
But Denver leaned into winning this game the only way they could, which was making it ugly. They slowed the pace, utilized the size of the likes of Nikola Jokic, DeMarcus Cousins and Aaron Gordon and mostly prevented Golden State from going on those scorched-earth runs they’re capable of making. It kept the Warriors at arm’s reach for most of the game, and prevented them from ever getting comfortable.
The other difference for Denver is that there were explosive, stunning bursts, like Bones Hyland hitting four 3’s in the second and Monte Morris going 5-for-5 from behind the arc in the third.
Morris gave the Nuggets the lead in the final minute by laughing off a box-and-one defense on Jokic, breezing by Jordan Poole and hitting a floater. He had 24, Hyland had 15 and Gordon, how has been woeful for most of the series, had 21.
And of course Jokic was absurd as ever, with 37 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists.
It was a gritty performance from the Nuggets. They made the Warriors play at their own pace, taking advantage of the referees proclivity towards fouls, and benefiting from off shooting nights from Jordan Poole (11 points on 3-of-10) and a woeful first half from Curry, who still finished with 33, but on 10-of-23, 3-of-11 from three and with four missed free throws.
Andrew Wiggins was reliable
While Curry and Poole were enduring their struggles, Andrew Wiggins was the steady force that kept the Warriors in the game, especially in the first half.
He was stellar from the mid-range and was proactive in cutting and driving at the hoop at the most opportune times.
And on defense, his length, strength and defensive acumen continued to allow the Warriors to go small. Even when that didn’t exactly work, with DeMarcus Cousins giving them fits inside, the limitless offensive upside of those small-ball lineups remained intact.
You can call him the glue, but he was more than that. He’s arguably the best rebounder the Warriors have right now, and his offensive effort kept this team afloat while its stars struggled to get into the flow of the game.
He will malign that over-aggressive putback attempt in the final minute, but he’d have been a hero if it had gone down.