DENVER _ The Warriors finally settled in this city around 4 a.m. on Saturday, leaving them little time to clear their minds and rest their bodies. The Warriors also arrived here a day removed from an underwhelming performance in Sacramento full of sloppy play and apathy.
But even with the Warriors facing burn out for a variety of reasons, Warriors coach Steve Kerr did his best to lighten the mood. "Let it rip and go have some fun," Kerr told his players. After all, the Warriors are still paid handsomely to play basketball and napped during the day at a local Four Seasons hotel.
If only it were that easy for the Warriors to execute Kerr's instructions. The Warriors unraveled toward a 115-108 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, punctuating their second loss to Denver this season and capping off a week that featured a 30-point blowout in Utah and an ugly win overshadowed by 25 turnovers in Sacramento. And against the Nuggets, the Warriors played like most opponents do on the second night of a back-to-back in Denver.
The ugliness started when Warriors guard Stephen Curry lost control of the ball, which brushed off his right leg out of bounds with the game tied 99-99 with 4:29 remaining. On the next possession, Nuggets guard Will Barton hit a 3-pointer to give the Nuggets a 102-99 lead with 4:10 left. Moments later, Warriors forward Kevin Durant contested a shot at the rim, only to leave Nuggets center Nikola Jokic an open 3-pointer to give Denver a 107-104 lead with 2:10 remaining.
After Curry missed an open 3-pointer, Durant drew a foul at the rim on the next possession. But Durant only made one of two foul shots to cut Denver's cushion to 109-104 with 1:32 left. Moments later, Nick Young committed a turnover and then airballed a 3-pointer. Young and Durant then drew technical fouls after arguing the ofificials should have been rewarded with a foul.
The Warriors (41-12) looked sluggish before those moments too. Barton (25 points), Jokic (19), Gary Harris (16) and Jamal Murray (15) posted double figures for Denver (28-25). The Warriors, a normally prolific outside shooting team, went 8 of 31 from 3-point range. And though the Warriors only committed 14 turnovers, they showed sloppiness elsewhere.
Though Durant ended with 31 points on 12 of 16 shooting, he only had two points off a pair of free throws and zero shot attempts in the first quarter. Warriors center JaVale McGee picked up three of his five fouls within a one-minute span.
On one third-quarter play, Warriors forward Draymond Green burned a timeout after falling to the floor because Durant collided with him. Even if Kerr kept his sense of humor before the game, he became flustered in certain moments. He picked up a technical after arguing over officials giving Young a traveling violation. Kerr appeared frustrated when the Warriors committed a third-quarter shot clock violation, pleading his players to play with more energy.
Still, it appeared the Warriors could survive another poor game with Curry (24 points), Klay Thompson (16) and Zaza Pachulia (10) scoring in double-figures. The Warriors also had some light-hearted moments.
Both Thompson and Pachulia threw down a dunk, providing more highlight reels in a season-long bet on which player could finish at the rim more often.
Warriors third-year forward Kevon Looney also lost a tooth after getting popped in the mouth. After nailing a foul shot, Looney grabbed the tooth off the floor.
"The formula is always the same: Be aggressive defensively and always take care of the ball," Kerr said. "If we do those things, we are really hard to beat."
