SAN FRANCISCO _ These young Warriors have spent most of the season trying to learn how to win. Sometimes, it's just as important to forget how to lose.
Embroiled in their worst losing streak of the season, Golden State relinquished a 19-point lead in their 134-131 loss to the Nuggets Thursday night in overtime at Chase Center to drop their 10th straight game.
A Warriors defense that had stifled the league's seventh-ranked offense for the first three quarters lost steam, and their once-connected offense became unraveled.
During a season in which their opponents have often pounced on their own vulnerabilities caused by injuries, the Warriors sought to take advantage of a tired Nuggets team on the second night of a back-to-back missing key contributors in guard Jamal Murray (left ankle), forward Paul Millsap (left knee) and guard Gary Harris (right adductor).
The Warriors opened up a 19-point lead in the first quarter, as they assisted on 11 of their first 12 made field goals and held Nuggets center Nikola Jokic to 0 points and 0 assists in the opening frame.
Jokic got his first assist with 7:11 in the second quarter, when he found Will Barton for a 3-pointer to push a 16-4 Nuggets run that cut Golden State's lead to five. However, the Warriors answered with a 13-2 run and took a 62-45 lead to halftime.
In the fourth quarter, the Nuggets outscored the Warriors 40-28. Forward Eric Paschall's go-ahead 3-pointer with 15 seconds left almost avoided the disastrous collapse, but then Golden State gave up a layup to Jokic that forced overtime, when they were outscored 21-18.
Thursday night, offense wasn't the issue, as seven Warriors played scored in double-digits. Rather, it was the defense that has consistently given up winning quarters to opponents during this losing streak.
After making only 26 shots in the first three quarters, the Nuggets made 21 in the fourth quarter and overtime while the Warriors made 12.
The Warriors were led by Alec Burks' 25 points on 6-for-14 shooting (4-for-9 from 3-point range, 9-for-10 from the line), while Lee added 21 points and D'Angelo Russell added 19. In total, they assisted on 36 of their 42 made shots.
Jokic finished with 23 points on 10-for-20 shooting, 12 rebounds and eight assists while guard Will Barton paced the Nuggets with 31 points on 11-for-20 shooting (7-for-10 from 3-point range).
Next, the Warriors will host the Magic on Saturday as they try, again, to learn from another loss.
