The Denver Nuggets came into Friday still searching for their first NBA Cup win and playing their first in the tournament at home. Their opponent, the Golden State Warriors, came into the game short handed missing their star Stephen Curry. It was apparent that they were outclassed as Denver took the lead early in the first quarter and never looked back. Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon all had big nights while several other payers contributed in key moments. The Nuggets are now 1-1 in Cup play and 6-2 on the season after winning 129-104.

Draymond Green opened the game with a three but that was the only bucket Golden State got in the first three minutes while Denver built a lead with a 7-0 run. Christian Braun had the majority of Denver’s points early while the Warriors search for a second bucket continued. Jimmy Butler finally got one (and a foul) with the quarter almost half gone. The Nuggets lead got up to double digits as they started to force the issue in the paint on offense. Jokic was facilitating with his favorite targets, Gordon and Braun, being the main benefactors. The bench checked in and Denver’s offense cooled off a bit. Golden State’s bench meanwhile went on a run and got back within seven points before Jokic buried a three with under two minutes left in the quarter. He and Gordon closed the quarter strong and Denver led 32-21.

The Nuggets were not crisp to start the second quarter. Turnovers and poor shooting led to an 11-0 Warriors run to trim the advantage to one. After a timeout Denver refocused. Murray hit back to back threes before Jonas Valanciunas scored five straight for the Nuggets. Their lead was quickly back up to double digits with a 19-3 run. Murray continued to lead the attack by taking on defenders off the dribble. When Jokic checked back in with just under five minutes left in the half Denver was up seventeen. Jamal was in full Murray Flurry mode and the Nuggets were running up both the court and the lead. To Golden State’s credit, they found some rhythm on offense late in the half, particularly Will Richard, but the Nuggets were just relentless. By the time the buzzer sounded the Denver was up 66-49.

The Nuggets were cold to open the third while Draymond was once again hitting threes, they countered with a couple trips to the line but the Warriors were playing the better ball. Eventually Denver calmed down, largely on the efforts of Jokic, and kept their lead up near fifteen. Gordon had the highlight of the game just past the midway point of the quarter. He crossed up Buddy Hield and then drove the lane for a thunderous dunk. The Warriors weren’t going to let the Nuggets run away with it though and kept Denver right around that fifteen point advantage as the quarter was winding down. Denver started running the floor and Murray started heating up again to push the lead up to twenty in the final minute of the quarter. After three the score was 99-77.

The Nuggets opened the fourth continuing to hit shots as it started to look like an early night for the starters. Peyton Watson had a couple baskets, including a gimme off a nice behind the back feed from Murray, and the Warriors took a timeout trailing by twenty-five. Denver’s bench unit wasn’t quite as crisp but they still were getting enough baskets to keep the Warriors well out of reach. Valanciunas continued to be a bright spot off the bench while Bruce Brown attacked the basket often. With over three minutes to play in the game the deep bench started to check in. That group looked like one would expect the deep bench to look with not a lot of flow on offense which led to many missed shots. They got to the free throw line a couple times though and closed it out. The final score was 129-104.

Final Thoughts

Jamal Murray looks like an All Star

Murray’s hot start to the season is one of the biggest storylines of the early year for Denver. He showed why he can be so valuable at top form tonight. During the second quarter the bench unit started to falter without Jokic on the court and it looked like the Warriors were going to come back. Murray put a stop to it with a big scoring run that resulted in him getting sixteen points in the quarter. He not only almost singlehandedly flipped the non-Jokic minutes from a negative to a positive, he got Nikola some extra rest and the duo effectively put the game out of reach to close out the half. With that type of contribution from Jamal Denver is almost impossible to beat.

Big Val is big time

Nov 7, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets center Jonas Valanciunas (17) reacts after a basket in the second quarter against the Golden State Warriors at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

I can’t say enough about how good Jonas has looked for the Nuggets so far. While it was JAmal who certainly turned the bench minutes in Denver’s favor, Valanciunas also played a big role. HE got hot from outside in that same second quarter to give the Nuggets a big momentum boost. He also helped slam the door shut at the end of the game and get all the rotation players some early rest. It’s clear that Jonas is the best backup Jokic has ever had and tonight was exactly how a game should go in the Big Val era. Denver gets up, Val helps the bench unit maintain while Jokic gets his first break of the game, Nuggets continue to build lead, Val helps close out game in the final quarter so Jokic doesn’t have to come back in. When the game follows that script Joker has a nice light 28 minutes and Jonas plays sixteen to leave the final four minutes at the five to Zeke Nnaji. Exactly how you want the minutes to go in a November game.

Continuing to be patient with Cameron Johnson

It was a big goose egg for Cam on the scoreboard tonight. He chipped in with four assists but otherwise was a non-factor. Obviously the Nuggets will want to get more out of him than they did tonight and have thus far this season. We have to keep reminding ourselves that is is still just November though. The Nuggets offense is unique, centered around a generational point center. That’s not the type of offense Johnson has a ton of run in. He’s also not getting a ton of opportunities as the de-facto fifth option on offense with Murray and Gordon playing like All Stars next to Jokic and Braun looking like he could be Nikola’s long lost brother with their chemistry. It didn’t start out that way for Christian, or Gordon or even Murray. Each of those guys learned to develop their game working with Jokic and each of their games took off when they did. It’s going to take time for Cam to develop that chemistry as well.