Warriors Take Down Nuggets, Stay No.1 in The West, 122-105

Many of the people were wondering in which way will the reigning champions respond after the toughest loss at home in their championship era.

Will a huge defeat against Boston leave some marks on them? Especially now, in the situation when the biggest challenger in the West comes to Oracle Arena, aiming to take over the conference, and the no.1 seed.

Well, they didn’t have to worry too much about Steve Kerr’s boys, they proved like many times so far, that adversities make them only tougher.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMhkX-wogZ4&t=13s

Golden State easily beat the Nuggets, 122-105, getting the seasonal series against this opponent on their side.

But that wasn’t important as the fact that Golden State needed this win to bounce back and regain self-esteem. Many fans were a bit frightened for them, because it is the late part of the season, and losing pace now would make their lives a lot more complicated.

But Steve Kerr didn’t have any doubts about his boys.

”Our guys have responded for the last five years to bad losses, to lulls, so it didn’t surprise me at all that we came out with energy and passion and got off to that great start,” Kerr said.

And that was exactly what happened. The Warriors came flying in the game and immediately created a 15-3 advantage. Thought he Nuggets did manage to recover in the late part of the first and early part of the second quarter when they even got the lead at some point and showed a solid resistance for the next several minutes.

And that is was, several minutes of the fight, and after that another burst of the reigning champs.

“The randomness of their offense, the quick rip screen by a shooter and popping, the cutting through,” said Mike Malone who was helpless from the side how Klay Thompson demolishes his team.

Thompson dropped 29 points in the first half, 39 in total, coming back after skipping two games because of a sore knee. He was 9 of 11 for three.

He was saying to Jeff Van Gundy that those two games were a long period for him to wait and that he was eager to get back on the floor.

“Taking those two games off, felt like an eternity, so I was really fresh. I think that was obvious with the two steals I picked up early, my motion was great…”

The second half didn’t have any issues in terms of the winner, because the Western leaders confidently kept their challengers on distance.

Kevin Durant had 26 points with 6 assists and 4 boards, with 10 of 15 from the field. Curry ended the night with 17 and 7 boards, while Boogie Cousins had 13 with 6 assists, rebounds, and blocked shots, and was protecting the rim like a monster.

In general, the whole home team played good defense and decreased the guests to only 37.9% from the field.

Malone had no doubts that although his team is close to Warriors now, they still have a lot to work to reach their level.

”They’re a better team than we are. If it wasn’t for our bench we would have gotten completely blown out,” coach Malone said. ”Our bench at least kept it respectable.”

Right now, the Nuggets (43-22) are two games behind the Warriors (45-20). There are 17 games until the end of the regular part of the season, and theoretically, there are still chances for them to jump over them. But the way they play now, it would be hard, as Denver lost four in the last five events. Up next Malone’s crew hosts Minnesota at home, then has two more matches at Pepsi center, versus the Mavs and the Pacers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eML_CLrht30

They have to win them all, because after that period, comes an Eastern conference tour, against Celtics, Wizards, Knick, and Pacers again.

Champs meet Suns at home before their challenging stretch which will include visiting, Houston, OKC, San Antonio, and Minnesota.

No doubt, that the Western conference will give us a lot of pleasure while watching it in the next couple of weeks.