San Francisco – The Warriors lose to the champs in a rematch where the Denver Nuggets dominated in the second half. Despite being up by as much as 15 points, Golden State lost their lead and momentum after leading all scores in the first half. The Warriors 119-103 loss to the Nuggets was a tough pill to swallow to end the homestand.
Tonight’s loss snapped a three-game winning streak, Golden State won eight of their last 10 games. The Warriors lost the season series to the Nuggets, 0-4. Golden State was also swept by Denver (0-3) during the 2022-23 season, making Denver the first Western Conference team to sweep the Warriors in back-to-back seasons since the Memphis Grizzlies in 2011-12 and 2012-13. This marks the first time the Warriors have lost seven-straight games to the same opponent since the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Warriors in 11 consecutive contests (11/2010 to 11/2013).
Golden State scored a season-low 16 fourth-quarter points. The Warriors failed to score at least 105 points in back-to-back games for the first time this season. Tonight marked the 10th time this season the Warriors have led by double-figures and gone on to lose (led by as many as 16 points).
Klay Thompson scored 23 points in the game’s first half, matching his season high for points scored in a half. It was Thompson’s 20th 20-point game of the season. Tonight marked his 14th game with five-or-more threes on the season, the fourth-most such games in the NBA.
“It just felt like pace to me.,” said Kerr on Thompson’s night. “The first half the pace was in our favor until those last few minutes. So he was getting free, and we had a lot of good pin-downs for him, and then in transition he got a couple buckets. Klay was great. Then in the second half I thought Denver’s defense was really, really good. They got to the line quite a bit, which like I said, kind of slowed us down.”
Up Next: The Warriors travel to Washington to face the Wizards on Tuesday, February 27 (4 p.m. PST), in the first game of a four-game road trip… They also face the Knicks, Raptors and Celtics on the trip.
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