Warriors go rogue and let game slip away in Denver
DENVER — The Warriors furiously cut a double-figure deficit down to two late in the fourth quarter Sunday but couldn’t get any closer in a 112-110 loss to the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena.
Klay Thompson hit a 3-pointer from the corner to make it a two-point game with 20 seconds left.
After the Nuggets inbounded, the Warriors smothered Bruce Brown near half-court, forcing a jump ball. Golden State won the tip with 10 seconds left.
After Thompson missed a shot from the top of the key, he got his own rebound for another attempt at the go-ahead basket. But Jamal Murray got a hand on the ball and time expired, dropping the Warriors’ record away from home to 9-30.
Thompson and Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 25 and 21 points, respectively, but only went a combined 7-for-30 from 3-point range.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets were without MVP candidate Nikola Jokic for the third straight game as he continues to deal with right calf tightness. But Murray’s 26 points and game-sealing block, as well as 29 points and four 3-pointers from Michal Porter Jr., helped West-leading Denver improve to 52-26.
Coach Steve Kerr blamed poor shot selection and lack of focus as reasons the Warriors let the game slip away in the first place.
“From mid-second quarter until those last four minutes, we were mindless out there and we weren’t tough enough, not disciplined enough, and ultimately didn’t deserve to win the game,” Kerr said.
The Warriors were easily the better team for the first 15 minutes of the game. The ball was humming and the shots were flowing. Golden State turned the ball over only twice by the time Gary Payton II made a layup to put the Warriors up by 15 points at the 9:17 mark of the second quarter.
“We had total control of the game,” Kerr said.
And then they didn’t.
Thompson buried a 14-footer with 4:13 left in the second quarter to put Golden State ahead 56-44. The Nuggets would go on to close out the half with a 14-5 run to trim the visitors’ lead to three at the break.
Denver evened the score for the first time since early in the first when Murray fed Aaron Gordon for a forceful dunk to knot the game up at 71 at the 7:21 mark of the third.
Leading by two at the end of the third, the Nuggets started to run away with the game in the fourth. Poole, who had 17 points off the bench, picked up his 12th technical foul of the season at the 3:58 mark of the final quarter.
The Warriors found the will to fight back late. They were down 12 with 3:22 to go in regulation time, but went on a 12-2 run to make it a two-point game with 20 seconds left. But Thompson missed his final two shots of the game. After the second one was blocked, Thompson pulled his jersey collar and partially covered his face.
“Frustrated,” Kerr said when asked about the vibes in the locker room after a loss like this. “That’s a game that’s right there for us. Obviously, a huge game given everything that’s at stake and in control of the game, 15-point lead, playing well, and then we stopped doing the things that got us to that point.”
Kerr said the Warriors shot selection was “not great” against the Nuggets.
“We were taking quick ones, we weren’t trusting each other or moving it on,” he said. “Just felt like we were not sharp and not trusting the ball movement.”
Neither Kerr nor Donte DiVincenzo had answers for why the team has struggled to stay locked in at times, especially on the road. DiVincenzo suggested the Warriors might’ve let their guard down since Nuggets star Jokic wasn’t on the floor.
“Ultimately you look at yourself in the mirror. If you’re out there playing this game and you’re waiting for somebody else to tell you to get your head out of your a–, that’s not going to work,” said DiVincenzo, who had 18 points and 13 rebounds. “We have it in us, we have to play together the full 48.”
The Warriors were well aware that winning their last four games would’ve secured them at least a top-six seed, meaning they’d avoid the dreaded play-in tournament.
“We knew that,” Curry said. “And we also knew the way we started the game gave us a clear lane and then we let it slip.”
The Warriors play their final home game Tuesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder before closing out the regular season in Sacramento and Portland.
“You have to be able to move on and not let it bleed into Tuesday’s game,” Curry said.
Golden State now shares the same 41-38 overall record as the Los Angeles Clippers. Golden State is sixth in the Western Conference standings and the Clippers are fifth; both are two games back from the fourth-seeded Phoenix Suns and only a half-game out of play-in territory.
“We’ve got to come to a realization that if we’re going to win or do anything in the playoffs, this kind of game like tonight can’t happen,” Curry said.