Should Warriors Be Concerned About Game 4 Loss To Nuggets?
Heading into this past Sunday, the Golden State Warriors led the Denver Nuggets 3-0 in their Western Conference first-round playoff series and were on the verge of sweeping the Nuggets, but Nikola Jokic and Co. did not back down in front of their home faithful.
Denver threw the first few punches in this game, taking an early lead in the first quarter and expanding on their lead in the second quarter, but Golden State continued to stay within striking distance throughout the second-half.
Monte Morris’ floater with around 33 seconds left to put the Nuggets up two and then Will Barton’s three-pointer with 8.3 seconds left to put the Nuggets up five sealed the deal in Game 4, giving Denver a 126-121 victory to keep their season alive.
Now, the Nuggets have a little bit of momentum on their side heading into Game 5 on Wednesday in San Francisco, but this is a scenario that the Warriors have been in before.
Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala have played in a combined total of 543 playoff games and their experience is what sets them apart from the Nuggets in this series.
Game 4 was definitely a disappointing result for Golden State, but the problem in this game for the Warriors was their foul trouble.
Denver went 29-36 from the free-throw line in their victory over the weekend, claiming a slight +6 edge in terms of free-throws over the Warriors and a big blow to the Warriors was when Draymond Green picked up his sixth foul with just over 2 minutes left in the game.
Draymond Green’s defense all season long has been impeccable and in this series, Green has been a force guarding reigning league-MVP Nikola Jokic.
“We just got to play better,” Draymond said following the loss. “You know, this isn’t the worst thing for us. We get more reps together, more playoff-like reps together, so it is not all bad. We have to go home and take care of our business and close out the game and not come back to Denver.”
Nikola Jokic has stepped up all year long for the Denver Nuggets and in this series against Golden State, Jokic is averaging 31.3 points, 11.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists and is shooting 55.7% from the floor.
The Nuggets’ center is obviously going to get his points and stats given his usage, but who else is going to step up for Denver?
This has been the key question all season long with Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. sidelined due to injuries and in Game 4, the answer for Denver was Monte Morris, Aaron Gordon and Bones Hyland.
These three combined to score 60 points and DeMarcus Cousins also gave the Nuggets key minutes off-the-bench, scoring 10 points on 3-3 shooting.
Only being able to do so much, Nikola Jokic has needed help for the Nuggets to win a game in this series and he got that in Game 4.
However, moving forward into Game 5 in San Francisco, it is hard to imagine that the Nuggets will be able to play with the same kind of energy, especially since they do not have their home fans to cheer them on and help push them to a victory.
The Nuggets have proven they are more than capable of winning a game in this series and they could potentially win Game 5 on the road, but no team in NBA history has ever come back from an 0-3 deficit in a playoff series before and if they were to potentially move on, they would have to win two of their next three games on the road in Chase Center.
The Warriors have no level of concern right now and they really shouldn’t simply because of all of the weapons they have on offense.
Denver has proven that they have no answers defensively on stopping the Warriors and in this series, as Golden State’s “Super Splash Bros” trio of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole is averaging 76.3 points per game on 49-105 (46.7%) shooting from deep.
Between foul trouble dictating the flow of Game 4 for the Warriors and Stephen Curry missing a career-high four free-throws, Sunday just was not Golden State’s day.
Heading home and facing a scenario where they can close out the series in front of their home fans, it is hard to imagine the Warriors losing.
When they are at full strength, the Golden State Warriors have looked like the best team in the NBA and with Jordan Poole emerging as a high-level offensive weapon right now, they truly are in the best position to win another title.
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