Wednesday was nearly the most impressive win of the Warriors’ young season.
Instead, Golden State came up just short vs. the defending champion Denver Nuggets, losing a 108-105 thriller to close out a four-game road trip.
Fighting tired legs and the absence of Draymond Green, the Warriors had two chances to tie the game in the final seconds.
Down by five late, Steph Curry hit a wild, 34-foot runner 3 to cut the Denver lead 107-105 with 18 seconds remaining.
Chris Paul immediately fouled Nikola Jokic, who shockingly missed a pair of free throws.
On the other end after a timeout, Curry got Kentavious Caldwell-Pope isolated at the top of the key with the clock hitting single digits. Curry blew by the defender, but couldn’t get the floater to fall.
After the Nuggets reclaimed possession, Reggie Jackson split free throws. Without a timeout, Chris Paul pushed the ball up the floor a bit too aggressively, and Klay Thompson was not able to corral what would have been a chance at a game-tying 3-pointer.
Despite the loss, it was a valiant effort in a game where the starting lineup struggled throughout.
Here are three takeaways:
Bench unit nearly saves tired and shorthanded Warriors
Beating the Nuggets in Denver is a tall task in any scenario, but the Warriors started Wednesday behind the eight ball.
For starters, it was their eighth game in a row in a different city, the last game of a road trip that had one home game dropped in the middle.
It showed.
The Warriors opened sluggish. Golden State missed their first seven 3s, many of which hit the front rim. They also turned the ball over four times in the first few minutes. It led to an early 10 point deficit and the feeling the game might be a laugher.
Golden State was also without two of their best defenders in Green (personal matter) and Gary Payton II (illness).
When you make those considerations, the performance as a whole was quite impressive, especially on the defensive end. Though without Jamal Murray, the Nuggets’ half-court offense rarely looked comfortable, and the best shooting team in the NBA was held to just 44% from the field.
What was most impressive was Golden State’s young legs, who used to the end of the road trip to showcase their energy. The group, led by Paul, outscored the Nuggets with Steph off the floor by seven points and outscored the Denver bench 42-12. Last year that was unheard of.
Moses Moody was a bright spot on both ends, dropping 10 points and adding his 12th steal of the young season. Trace Jackson-Davis made the most of his run as well, with a couple nifty moves on the offensive end and holding his own in a near impossible task vs. Jokic on defense. His catch and finish and spin move and finish were both head-turning plays.
He added eight points, Chris Paul had nine and four assists in 27 minutes on the floor. Jonathan Kuminga didn’t shoot well, but still added 10 points and was a team best +9. Even rookie Brandin Podziemski contributed in 11 minutes with five points while going +8.
Differing defensive strategies lead to mixed results
Jokic is the most unguardable big man in the NBA, but the strategy the Warriors employed on Wednesday without Green, was surprisingly effective, at least initially.
When Kevon Looney was in the game, Golden State refused to double-team, and essentially left the two-time MVP open from the perimeter.
Jokic missed his first five 3 pointers, and Looney held his own when Jokic tried to bang inside. Looney’s best quality is his physicality, and Golden State leveraged that against Jokic’s own proclivity to create contact.
It won’t work every night. There are games when Jokic is deadly from deep, but he wasn’t on Wednesday, and on a night where the Nuggets were without their second best player, it made things a bit more difficult.
By the fourth quarter, however, Jokic started to cook. The big man got better position on Looney, and tuned him up for 35 points by game’s end. The lack of a double-team allowed for just five assists, however, and with a pick-your-poison type player, that might continue to be the strategy going forward.
Looney was solid on the offensive end in his own right, taking advantage of Jokic in the pick-and-roll to the tune of 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
Meanwhile, Caldwell-Pope continued to be one of the best defenders against Curry, chasing him around and getting help with the trap in the pick-and-roll.
Like with Jokic, the strategy was effective for awhile, until Steph began to get loose late and finish with 23 points. Still, the Nuggets will feel good about the performance. They outscored the Warriors by 10 with Curry on the floor.
Andrew Wiggins is officially a problem
Wiggins still doesn’t have his shot, and it’s starting to really hurt the Warriors. Wiggins didn’t hit a single jumper in 29 minutes on Wednesday, with all four of his buckets (4-for-13) coming at the rim. One of the misses included a huge 3-point attempt with two minutes left, that would have tied the game.
There isn’t a whole lot more to say at this point, beyond the fact that if Wiggins is playing like this, he won’t sniff the floor in late game situations when Golden State is at full strength.
All of the veteran Warriors looked tired on Wednesday, but Wiggins has looked tired all season. Just an average game from him would have been the difference in this one, and Golden State isn’t good enough to be able to win tough games if he continues to be a black hole for an extended period of time.