In their first playoff game since 2019, the Golden State Warriors defeated the Denver Nuggets 123-107, leading 1-0 in the series in their first round match. The Warriors welcomed star guard Stephen Curry back into his rotation for the first time in a month, but coming off the bench in his first game back, Curry never had to be a star for the Dubs to face victory.
Jordan Poole, the favorite for this year’s Most Distinguished Player Award, carried off his explosive second half of the season in the first NBA playoff game of his career. He scored the highest 30 points at 9 for 13 on the field. He drained the deep threes, finished hitting the edge and made his way to the free throw line. Poole once again looked like a budding young star on the national stage.
Both teams went back and forth at the beginning of the regulation, as Curry entered the middle of the first quarter. Splash Brother colleague Clay Thompson inflicted most of the damage on the Warriors early, scoring nine points in the first quarter. However, the Dubs hit their feet with multiple turns and trailed by 27-26 at the end of the quarter.
From there, the Warriors tightened insultingly. They finished the match with only 12 turns in a spinning dervish of passes. Golden State head coach Steve Kerr waited until the last minutes of the second quarter to unleash his trio of Curry, Poole and Thompson together. They closed the half with a score of 18-4 and gave the Warriors a 58-47 lead at halftime.
The Warriors maintained their double-digit lead in the third quarter, and when Curry returned to the floor in the final five minutes, the Dubs continued. Curry knocked down his second three in the game, and Golden State had a 20-point lead within minutes.
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic started strong, but broke down as the game progressed. The Warriors relied on Kevan Looney and Draymond Green against the current MVP, rarely doubling the Serbian star. Jokic received his buckets, but the rest of the Nuggets’ attack struggled to continue. At the other end of the floor, the Dubs kept including Jokic in the pick-and-roll, which seemed to tire him out. Jokic finished 12-for-25 off the field with 25 points, 10 rebounds and just 5 assists.
After Jokic cooled down in the second half, the Nuggets never made a legitimate fourth-quarter run, and the Warriors came out on top. Kerr put his starters on the bench with 3:34 until the end of the regulation.
Green appeared and looked as if Warriors fans were hoping to see the playoffs at the Draymond Playoffs. He was fantastic in defense, scoring 12 points in a 5 to 7 shot and recording 6 rebounds, 9 assists and 3 blocks without making a single turn. Not surprisingly, he had the best plus / minus of all in the starting lineup (+21).
Curry finished with 16 points in his 21 minutes of action. Thompson scored 19 points in a 7-for-15 shot (5 for 10 of three). Andrew Wiggins added 16 points and 9 rebounds. From the bench Otto Porter Jr., Nemanja Belica, Gary Peyton II and Andre Iguodala added solid contributions, although none of them scored outstanding lines in boxing.
Both teams have one day off before the Warriors host Game 2 on Monday, April 18 at 7pm Pacific Standard Time. The Nuggets will seek to steal the home court’s advantage before returning to Colorado, while the Dubs have a chance to solidify their 2-0 lead in the series.
Join our Warriors show after a game of Twitch, hosted by Marc Delucchi:
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