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An early-season showdown and a championship test of wills lived up to its billing Wednesday night.
Ultimately, the Nuggets were the last team standing, pulling out a 108-105 victory over the Golden State Warriors at raucous Ball Arena to remain undefeated at home and improve to an NBA-best 8-1.
“To get off to this start and to be undefeated at home, I couldn’t be more proud of this group,” Denver coach Michael Malone said. “Not every game is going to be pretty but we gutted this one out tonight against a very good team.”
There were seven lead changes in a frenetic fourth quarter in a game that had a playoff feel to it — but plenty of sloppy moments, too.
Golden State’s star Stephen Curry reached into his bag of magic tricks to nearly topple the Nuggets. Curry threw in a 34-foot, running 3-pointer to pull the Warriors to within two, at 107-105 with 18.1 seconds left.
Still, Denver looked to be in command until an exhausted Nikola Jokic missed two free throws at the other end. But Denver’s defense stifled Curry, forcing him to miss an awkward layup. Reggie Jackson made one of two foul shots to seal the win for Denver.
Though Jokic, who played 36 minutes, clanked the two key free throws and also threw a silly pass for a turnover in the closing minute, he was still the most powerful force on the floor. He finished with 35 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. He shot 14 of 25.
Wednesday marked the first game this season between the most recent NBA champions. The Nuggets defeated the Heat in six games to win the 2023 title and the Warriors beat the Boston Celtics in six games for the 2022 championship.
The Warriors looked to be on the verge of taking over the game but a 30-second sequence with 8:16 left in the fourth quarter gave the Nuggets the spark they needed to keep up with the energized Warriors.
Curry was swooping in for what seemed like an easy finger-roll layup but Aaron Gordon came out of nowhere to swat the ball away. Curry wanted a goaltending call but didn’t get it.
On the other end, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope did get a goaltending call on his driving layup and also got fouled by Trayce Jackson-Davis. The sequence put Denver ahead, 92-87. Curry was not pleased by the turn of events.
Discombobulated best describes Denver’s third quarter, when it was outscored 31-23, with the Warriors taking a 78-76 lead. With Jackson on the bench with four fouls, Collin Gillespie was called on to run the offense. Things didn’t go smoothly but Jokic’s 14-point quarter kept the game close.
Malone said he didn’t think his “young guys” were ready to play tonight, adding, “That’s the first time I’ve seen that this season.”
Michael Porter Jr., who scored 17 points, began the game on a mission, sparking the Nuggets to a 23-13 lead late in the first quarter with a put-back slam. He scored 10 points in the quarter on 4 of 6 shooting, including two 3-pointers.
With guard and team leader Jamal Murray out for the foreseeable future with a hamstring injury, the Nuggets are determined to make Porter a focal point of the offense. He was coming off a strong game at New Orleans, scoring 22 points with nine rebounds, and three assists in 28 minutes.
Curry played more than 9 minutes in the opening quarter but took only two shots and failed to score. Curry didn’t score his first points until draining a 3-pointer with 6:20 left in the second quarter to tie the game at 36-all.
But Curry, of course, paced the Warriors in the second half and finished with 23 points, though he shot just 35.3% (6 of 17), in part because of the tenacious defense of Caldwell-Pope.
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