OAKLAND, Calif. _ The Warriors' best scorers kept hoisting shots, but they kept drawing blanks. The Warriors' most emotional and intense leader tried to spark the team, but they still remained sluggish. The Warriors' reserves tried their best to help out, but that did not do much either.
Perhaps the Warriors would have to eventually lose a game. It hardly seemed likely that the Warriors would to lose, 96-81, to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday at Oracle Arena in the manner that they did.
The normally offensively prolific Warriors (26-7) snapped an 11-game winning streak by having a reverse identity. The Warriors posted a season low in points. The Warriors went 32 of 83 from the field (38.6 percent). They shot 3 of 27 from 3-point range (11.1 percent). All of this happened against the Nuggets (18-15), who boast the NBA's ninth-worst defense.
After staying steady before and during Stephen Curry's eight-game absence with a sprained right ankle, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson suddenly could not buy a basket. Durant had 18 points while shooting 6 of 17 from the field and 0 of 5 from 3-point range. Thompson added 15 points while going 6 of 21 from the field and 1 of 10 from the perimeter.
In his second game since nursing a sore right shoulder that sidelined him for about a week, Warriors forward Draymond Green tried to ignite his team with points (10), hustle (five rebounds) and playmaking (six assists). But that was not enough.
Green lit into Thompson during a timeout after he missed a shot and failed to close out on Denver forward Wilson Chandler, who made a 3-pointer for a 63-53 lead with 4:59 left in the third quarter.
More frustration mounted when Nuggets center Nikola Jokic extended his left elbow toward Green, which prompted Green to fall to the ground in pain, but the officials did not to see it.
The Warriors reserves fared no better.
Warriors reserve forward Nick Young had five points on 2 of 8 shooting, including hoisting a 3-pointer that hit the side of the backboard. Warriors reserve forward Andre Iguodala had two points on 1 of 6 shooting, including lacking enough hops to finish on an open dunk. The Warriors also committed 19 turnovers, which led to Denver scoring 21 points off of those miscues.
