DENVER — After the Golden State Warriors dominated the first two games of the series, coach Steve Kerr anticipated the Denver Nuggets to play a more physical and aggressive game out of desperation as Denver faced the possibility of being swept out of the postseason for the second consecutive season.
And that’s exactly what the Nuggets did Thursday night in Denver. But Golden State found a way to win anyway, beating the Nuggets 118-113 to take a 3-0 lead in the series.
Golden State answered Denver’s intensity in the first half.
But in a game where defense seemed optional for the most part, the Warriors had too many turnovers and missed key open shots, which had them struggling to maintain a lead in the fourth quarter.
The Warriors’ small-ball lineup left the lane open for Nikola Jokic to get an easy layup to give the Nuggets an 111-109 lead with 3:20 left in the game. After a timeout, Andrew Wiggins answered with a corner 3, which sparked the Warriors’ 9-2 run to close out the game.
The Warriors’ highly praised three-guard lineup consisting of Steph Curry, Jordan Poole, Klay Thompson, Wiggins and Draymond Green was not nearly as efficient as it was in the two previous games. In Games 1 and 2, that group played a combined 11 minutes and limited the Nuggets to an average of just .75 points per possession while Golden State averaged a ridiculous 2.04 points per possession.
But the group showed its flaws in Denver.
Maybe it was the altitude. Or perhaps it was just shoddy defense and poor ball security. The latter seems more reasonable.
Kerr deployed the three-guard unit around the 7-minute mark in the first quarter, the earliest appearance of the group this postseason. Over the next 2 1/2 minutes, the Nuggets went on a 14-7 run and tied the game at 22 apiece, forcing a Golden State timeout during which the team regrouped and issued out a different lineup.
The lineup was used again in the final three minutes of the first half. The Warriors scored as many points as they gave up (seven), but had four really bad turnovers, including three committed by Curry.
In the third quarter, Denver outscored that lineup 11-4 and the Warriors committed another two turnovers which added to the team’s total of 16. And in the fourth, the lineup looked more like the first two games and carried the Warriors to the win.
Poole left the game in the third quarter and appeared to have a heat pad on his forearm. He re-entered the game minutes later and seemed fine. He finished with 27 points on 9-of-13 shooting.
Meanwhile, Thompson, who converted on six of his 13 3-point attempts, surpassed Ray Allen for third place on the NBA’s all-time postseason threes list, trailing only Curry and LeBron James. Thompson finished with 26 points.
Curry, who came off the bench for the third consecutive game, contributed 27 in 31 minutes, his most minutes in a game since returning from a month-long absence with a foot injury. Gary Payton II added a much-needed spark at times as a reserve, adding 11 points while shooting a perfect 3-for-3 from 3-point range.
Jokic again led the Nuggets’ offensive efforts. He scored a game-high 37 points and recorded 18 rebounds and five assists in 38 minutes.
The Warriors hold a 3-0 lead over the Nuggets in the best-of-seven series. They’ll play Game 4 Sunday in Denver before traveling back to San Francisco — for either Game 5 on Wednesday or at least a few days off ahead of the Western Conference semifinals.
