The Denver Nuggets spotted the Golden State Warriors a 10-point lead with a slow start, but it was their inability to get a stop at the end that doomed them as they lost 137-131 to the Warriors in overtime. Aaron Gordon was outstanding, putting in a career-high 50 points on just 21 shots and 6 free throws and making 10 of his 11 three-pointers. It was an awesome performance, the most points ever scored in a Nuggets opener, and Jamal Murray added 25 points and 10 rebounds. Nikola Jokic had a triple-double with 21 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists but he missed 11 three-pointers and failed to put his stamp on a game that desperately needed him to do so late. Steph Curry was outstanding, finishing with 42 points and 7 assists, and had 7 players in double-figures compared to 4 for Denver. The Nuggets have to go home looking for their first win against the Phoenix Suns after letting the 4th quarter lead slip away on this Opening Night.
Game Flow
Golden State opened with a Steph Curry three and a Draymond Green finish, then an Aaron Gordon miss led to a Kuminga finish. Nikola Jokic turned it over with an interior pass that led to a corner 3 for the Warriors and a quick 10-0 lead. Jokic finally hit a paint finish through uncalled contact for Denver’s first points, then Murray had his own layup with his pick-and-roll partner the next time down. Jokic scored again after Denver scraped up a defensive rebound, then both squads missed finishes. Christian Braun hit a transition jumper off a Murray steal to make it 10-8 Golden State, then another Murray steal turned into a Cam-assisted Jokic dunk and a tie game. Murray and Kuminga traded layups, then Murray and Buddy Hield traded jumpers before Christian Braun took a Jokic feed for a dunk. Aaron Gordon buried a top-of-the-key 3, Horford finished at the rim, and Jokic fell down on a rebound but still started a transition as both teams played extremely hard in the first quarter. AG hit his second 3, Denver swarmed Jimmy Butler on defense, and then Gordon hit another 3 in the corner during an inadvertent whistle to put Denver up 9. Butler hit a three pointer, then Watson turned the ball over for another Butler bucket. Butler had another bucket and then free throws as he overwhelmed Watson, Murray hit a tough turnaround jumper, and Denver led 31-27 after one.
Jonas Valanciunas and Tim Hardaway Jr. opened the second quarter with buckets for their new team, Golden State stayed cold from behind the arc early and Big Val hit a running finish in transition. Murray had 5 early assists as he orchestrated the offense, and had a left-handed finish to go up 40-32. Hield finished a layup, Murray hit a drop pass to Big Val, then Jonas found Bruce Brown for a layup. Kuminga and Murray exchanged buckets, Draymond and Horford both hit threes and Jokic answered with one of his own. Peyton Watson got free throws, Gordon made his fourth and fifth 3-pointers, Curry missed a 3 and the AG hit a 6th off a Jokic screen. Jokic and AG both buried threes as they turned into Mile High Splash Brothers for some reason. Golden State hit a pair of buckets in the final minute but Denver went into halftime with the 70-59 lead.
Kuminga got to the foul line and Aaron Gordon answered with a tough paint finish to open the second half. Curry made a three, Cam Johnson made a nice baseline turnaround, and Curry’s net three was answered by a Jamal jumper and AG’s eighth 3. The Warriors started to find their full offense though with layups from Curry and Green and a Brandin Podziemski three sandwiching a Jokic jumper to close to within for at 81-77 Denver. Gordon and Curry exchanged jumpers, Curry got an and-1, Jokic found Tim Hardaway Jr. for a finish, but Denver’s transition game failed a couple of times on what should have been easy points and Golden State took the 85-84 lead. Denver’s offense stagnated while the Warriors kept attacking, and despite a last second bouncing 3 from Jamal Murray the Nuggets went to the 4th quarter tied with the Warriors at 94.
Butler hit free throws and Tim Hardaway Jr. hit a 3 to start the fourth. Draymond Green made a three over Big Val, Bruce Brown banked in a paint finish, then Mal missed Bruce on an ill-conceived oop attempt but found Gordon the next time down. Then Gordon buried a corner three, Big Val got a block but Bruce missed the finish. AG hit the step back for his 39th point and gave Denver a 106-100 cushion with Jokic on the bench. Jokic came back in and AG stayed hot with a traditional 3-point play, but two buckets from Golden State cut the lead back to 4. Jokic found Murray in the paint for a bucket and Nikola’s 9th assist. AG found Cal in the corner for a 3, Curry hurt Denver again with another layup, and Joker hit a paint turnaround near the foul line to make it 116-108 Denver. Golden State airballed but Jokic missed inside near the rim in return, and Curry got to the line multiple times with under 3 minutes to go. Jokic got himself to the line but missed one and Curry’s three tied it at 117 with just over a minute to go. Curry missed a layup, Gordon buried his 10th three-pointer with the crowd audibly groaning as the ball found him and Golden State had to try to tie the game with 25.7 seconds left. Curry did tie it with a deep three and it was up to Denver to try to win it. Jokic got the ball but couldn’t finish and the game went to overtime
In overtime Steph made a three for the first bucket after Cam missed his attempt for Denver. Aaron Gordon answered with a traditional 3-point play, then a Christian Braun rebound led to a Jokic paint bucket. Al Horford answered with a corner 3, Murray turned it over on a double team for a Warriors bucket and Golden State took the 128-125 lead. After a timeout Murray finished at the rim, Green answered thanks to an AG goaltend, and Jokic had yet another three-point miss. Jimmy Butler’s dagger 3 in return ended it and Denver lost 137-131.
Final Thoughts
– Aaron Gordon improving on his jumper (again!) can only help Denver. He was 7-for-7 from deep in the first half! He took shots in rhythm, and buried them easily – and he kept it going in the second half. We know what he’s going to do defensively, that’s a given for him. It absolutely changes the offense if Gordon can take advantage of his size inside and his shot outside. With a full arsenal of dunks and cuts to go with much smoother turnarounds, jumpers and threes, it’s going to make Denver an even tougher cover than they already were. What a great first game for Mr. Nugget who looked every inch of an All-Star. Denver is only 2-4 in the Jokic Era when a player scores 50 or more (h/t @CoachJBender) but with only 21 shots taken he wasn’t taking up all the oxygen. He was the one keeping the offense afloat, and it should have been enough for the win.
– Jamal Murray was ready from the opening tip. AG stole his thunder a little bit but 25 points, 10 assists and 3 steals along with quite a few interesting defensive plays and full-court sprints showed just what a healthy offseason could do for Murray for the first time in ages. He obviously put in the effort over the offseason to try to avoid the early-season doldrums and with a one-game sample size it sure looks like it’s going to pay off. The Warriors are not the best matchup for him but he came out ready and despite a couple of poor plays late he had his energy up all game. This loss is not on him.
– Denver’s non-Jokic minutes went well, but several rotation players did not. Cam Johnson was very obviously out-of-sorts and out-of-place, scoring 5 points on 8 shots and missing both offensive cuts and defensive rotations. Christian Braun had a nightmare game trying (and failing) to slow either Steph or Jimmy Butler, and scored only 6 points. Peyton Watson had as many turnovers as points (2) and also contributed nothing defensively. The bench was buoyed by playing some with Jamal and AG, and both Valanciunas and Hardaway had nice first games. This game was lost by the top of the rotation though, not the new reserves.
– The best player in the world and his coach both need to show up in big moments. Nikola Jokic took 13 threes and missed 11 of them against a team that had no size to defend him inside. He only had 4 shots inside the arc and refused to force the issue, instead playing an outside game. Golden State tied the Nuggets in rebounds and had more offensive ones than Denver because AG was on fire from deep while Joker was bricking all those outside shots and there was no one inside to collect any misses. If that was the coaching plan in order to put Jokic in position to slow transition and get defensive rebounds it was a poor one, as was the decision to let several questionable calls go unchallenged even when Jokic and his teammates were asking for those challenges. If Jokic is not in shape to play that hard for so many early minutes, then that’s what Valanciunas is on the team for. Either way, it was a problem.
And not the only one. In his first test as the permanent head coach, Adelman had a far more passive approach than Michael Malone. Gone were the rage timeouts but that meant Denver was allowed to play through mistakes to both good and bad results. When the game got to crunch-time however it was Kerr who pushed the right buttons and Adelman’s squad that looked confused. Murray’s late turnover came when both Johnson and Braun couldn’t figure out what to do as Jamal got double-teamed. Bruce Brown was having more luck defensively but Adelman rode both Johnson and Braun to an overtime death. And being unable to scheme plays for Jokic to score inside down the stretch, to even think of getting him on the block, is a black eye out of the gate. Denver’s new defense might take time to learn the nuances of – they didn’t stop the Warriors from doing a single thing tonight, that’s for sure – but that’s all the more reason not to allow offensive confusion down the stretch.
The game was right there for the Nuggets, but in the end they let Golden State take it from them. That’s the kind of passivity Denver doesn’t need this year, not with so many pieces available to them. Jokic will get his rhythm, Cam will get adjusted, and Christian will stop trying to live up to the new contract and just play. But it really is Adelman that needs to make sure to keep his hand on the wheel and get Denver in its best position down the stretch. He can turn that around as soon as Game 2 against the Suns.
