The Denver Nuggets got punked in the clutch again, losing to the undermanned Golden State Warriors 128-117 in what was an epic fourth-quarter collapse.
A 20-2 run to take the lead and pull away from the Nuggets in the fourth was part of a 33-16 effort that period from the home team as they banged six triples, led by two makes, 15 points and eight rebounds off the bench in the final 12 minutes from Brandin Podziemski, who went plus-17 in the final quarter.
Nikola Jokic finished with 35 points on 11-of-21 shooting, adding 20 rebounds and 12 assists in another monster performance that went for naught. Jamal Murray tallied 21 points but committed five turnovers, including three costly giveaways in the final period that fueled the Warriors’ decisive run.
The Nuggets dropped to 36-22 and fell to 14-15 in crunch-time games this season with the loss — a troubling trend for a team with championship aspirations.
Golden State was without Seth Curry (knee), Jimmy Butler (knee), Kristaps Porzingis (illness) and Draymond Green, who was a late scratch with left lower back soreness.
“That was confusing,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said after the game of the Green scratch. “Obviously the game plan was very different.”
But Adelman refused to use the late roster change as an excuse, nor did he use the schedule as one despite bringing it up.
“That has nothing to do with being more aggressive to rotate to him [Al Horford.] I thought coverages in the first half broke down way too much that led to some shots for him. Those weren’t trail threes in transition. Those were half-court mistakes,” Adelman said. “This has been a tough weekend for us with the game time and the back to back and all that. But it has nothing to do with your approach to the game. And we gave them confidence early. Their energy surpassed ours and they played harder.”
The Warriors shot 21 of 52 from 3-point range (40.4%), torching Denver early and late while going cold only in the third quarter. Horford led the barrage with 22 points on 6-of-7 shooting from deep, while Moses Moody added 23 points and De’Anthony Melton chipped in 20.
Podziemski finished with 18 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists for the game while going plus-19 overall.
The Warriors scored 39 points in the first quarter before the Nuggets clawed back. Denver erased an 11-point deficit with a solid close to the second quarter and a dominant third period, outscoring Golden State 34-19 in the third while holding the Warriors to 0-for-13 from 3-point range.
Jokic was particularly aggressive in the third, scoring 14 points with seven rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block as Denver took a 101-95 lead into the fourth.
Then it all fell apart.
“We had to work so hard to get back into it,” Adelman said. “They had more energy than we did at the end of the game. That’s the bottom line… This is one of those losses during the season where you’re gonna look back and really wish we had a different approach to start the game.”
The Nuggets committed 17 turnovers that led to 24 Warriors points. Several came in the backcourt, including key giveaways during crucial stretches.
“The better team won today,” Adelman said. “We did not play well.”
Christian Braun added 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting and was a bright spot early, but the starting lineup was outscored badly in the fourth, with Murray, Braun and Jokic each finishing minus-11 in just under six minutes together in the final period.
The loss comes just after the Nuggets collapsed against the Clippers on Thursday but responded by setting a franchise record for points on the road Friday night in Portland. The team is oscillating, with defense remaining bad but the offense that once led the league keeps waning in big spots.
What’s next for the Nuggets?
The Nuggets are finally back in Denver on Wednesday for the first time since before the All-Star break. Denver hosts Boston in a clash of two of the NBA’s best teams in the 2020s. Then the Nuggets are right back out on the road Friday, returning to the site of their playoff elimination last year for the first time. The Thunder are heavily banged up at the moment, and the Nuggets may catch them without both Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams.
