Nuggets-Warriors Preview

By NOEY KUPCHAN
Posted Nov 28 2012 6:52PM

The Denver Nuggets put together four straight wins before coming up short their last time out.

Another matchup against the Golden State Warriors could help them get back on track.

Having already seen each other twice this season, the visiting Nuggets try to continue their recent dominance of the Warriors as the teams square off Thursday night.

Denver (8-7) found itself on the verge of its longest winning streak of the season before letting a 16-point lead slip away in Monday's 105-103 loss at Utah.

The Nuggets shot a season-high 54.8 percent and outrebounded the Jazz 38-31 but couldn't overcome the absence of Andre Iguodala, who received his second technical foul and was ejected after Utah's 14-2 run with 3:24 left in the third quarter.

"You can learn from every game," said Iguodala, who finished with 10 points. "You can learn if you don't do the right things, if you don't put the game out of reach like you're supposed to, you can lose the game. Some things were out of our control, but we still have to learn to be mentally tough - including myself - to get through it and fight for a win."

The Nuggets now turn their attention to the Warriors (8-6), whom they've had their way with of late. Denver has taken 11 of 14 matchups in the series, including the last three by an average of 18.7 points.

After pulling out a 107-101 double-overtime road win Nov. 10, the Nuggets beat Golden State 102-91 on Friday behind a season-high 29 points from Iguodala. Danilo Gallinari added 20 for Denver, which outscored the Warriors 58-34 in the paint.

While David Lee had 21 points for Golden State in that game, Stephen Curry struggled to break free from Ty Lawson and was 2 of 5 for six points - 12.4 less than his team-leading average.

"I think Ty and him have a little bit of a rivalry," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "He's understanding he can be a pest on that end of the court."

Curry, though, found his stroke the following night in a 96-85 win over Minnesota, posting 20 points while going 5 for 10 from 3-point range. Klay Thompson also had it going, compiling a season-high 24 points.

Thompson averaged 13.4 points on 33.3 percent shooting in his first 11 games but has since averaged 21.0 on 50.0 percent from the field in his last three.

"It's good to see him shooting with confidence, being aggressive and not worrying about missing shots, because at the end of the day, he's not coming out for missing shots," coach Mark Jackson told the league's official website. "That's not going to happen. He's too good of a shooter and obviously you can see the weapon that he adds to our offense."

Harrison Barnes, the No. 7 overall pick in this year's draft, has also provided a spark. He had 10 points and 11 rebounds against the Timberwolves - his third double-double in seven games.

"We're 8-6 without our starting center (Andrew Bogut), without our sixth man (Brandon Rush), with a bunch of young guys that just flat-out compete," Jackson said. "There's going to be some tough nights for us, I don't have to be a prophet to tell you that, but this team has something about it that refuses to let go of the rope."

Golden State, which allowed a league-high 106.8 points per game over the previous three seasons, has surrendered an average of 88.7 during a three-game home winning streak. The Warriors haven't won four straight in Oakland since March 25-April 6, 2011.

Warriors hold off Nuggets 106-105 in wild finish

By JANIE McCAULEY
Posted Nov 30 2012 2:24AM

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) If there were ever a time to praise the benefits of replay, Warriors coach Mark Jackson found it.

Andre Iguodala's 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded was waived off, and Golden State held on for a wild 106-105 win over the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night after four replay reviews over the final 3.4 seconds.

Iguodala received a cross-court inbounds pass and connected from the left wing with a hand in his face, and Denver players celebrated by running off the court toward their locker room. But the Warriors stayed put and waited on yet another review by officials at the scorer's table - then began their own cheers at raucous Oracle Arena when officials ruled the shot came just an instant after time expired.

"I was very confident that it didn't count," Jackson said. "That being said, I didn't know what the results were going to be, the same way with some of the other calls. Mistakes are going to be made - by players, by coaches, by referees. At the end of the day I'm just thankful we're at a time where we review it. Great camera work. Shout out to the camera man."

Iguodala missed the last of three free throws that would have tied the game with 3.4 seconds to go, but Denver still had two more chances to win.

Officials first went to the replay table to review whether Jarrett Jack had fouled Iguodala in the act of shooting to give him three tries when trailing by three. After he clunked the third attempt off the back of the rim, Golden State's Draymond Green knocked the ball out of bounds to give the Nuggets another possession with 2.1 seconds left - and that play also went to review.

Andre Miller's pass was deflected out of bounds, and officials went to the replay again before ruling the ball went off a Golden State player. Iguodala swished a 3 that would have won the game, but it came too late.

"If I put a stopwatch on ... it seems like the clock started early for me," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "There's nothing to argue about. The camera says it's in his hands."

Jack scored on a driving layup with 1:12 remaining, moments after a critical turnover that could have cost Golden State.

"We were pretty confident on a lot of the calls that didn't go our way throughout the course of the game, so we really weren't sure," Jack said. "Happy that one was able to go in our favor, but it shouldn't have come down to that. We had a couple mistakes, errors down the stretch that we'll definitely try to clean up in practice."

David Lee hit a layup with 2:12 left on the way to a season-high 31 points on 13-of-15 shooting for the Warriors, who earned a hard-fought first win of the season against the Nuggets in the third meeting between the teams in a 20-day span.

Klay Thompson scored 21 points and Stephen Curry had 20 points and a season-best 10 assists as Golden State (9-6) won for the fourth time in five games and moved three games above .500 for the first time since it was 7-4 early in the 2010-11 season. The Warriors also have nine wins in their first 16 games for the first time since 2006-07.

Iguodala finished with 22 points, Danilo Gallinari added 20 points and nine rebounds and Ty Lawson 17 points and nine assists for the Nuggets, who escaped with a double-overtime victory here Nov. 10 before beating Golden State at home last Friday.

The Nuggets used a 13-6 spurt early in the third quarter to build a 16-point lead, which looked an awful lot like the 15-0 run by Denver to start the second half of the last matchup. This time, Gallinari scored five of those points but the Warriors fought back.

"It seems as if we're developing a little bit of a rivalry with them - two out of the three games have been dogfight games," Jack said. "It was almost like an old-school East Coast basketball game, punch after punch after punch. Luckily we got to have the last one tonight."

Iguodala was held to 8 for 17 from the floor after he went off for a season-best 29 points in the last meeting - the most points by an opponent against Golden State this season.

This win came at a good time for Golden State following a dramatic two days in which the Warriors and Andrew Bogut acknowledged the center underwent a more extensive microfracture surgery in April. Both sides are still unclear when the 2005 No. 1 overall draft pick will be ready to return on his surgically repaired left ankle that has limited him to four games.

He said before the game he is done predicting when he might be back on the court, while general manager Bob Myers publicly apologized Thursday night to anyone who might have questioned how the situation was handled. He insisted the team didn't intend to mislead anyone by describing the procedure as only to clean out loose particles and bone spurs.

Golden State hit seven of its first nine shots to jump to a 17-5 lead 5 minutes into the game.

Jordan Hamilton hit a 25-footer with 4:21 left in the first half for Denver's first lead on the way to a 60-51 edge at the break after the Nuggets shot 15 for 23 in the period. The Warriors, meanwhile, went 10 of 21 from the floor in the second quarter.

Notes: A moment of silence was held before the national anthem for the daughter of Rockets coach Kevin McHale, who died Saturday at age 23. ... The Warriors are 5-2 at home. ... The Warriors won the season series with the Nuggets (2-1) in last season's lockout-shortened season for the first time since 2004-05. The teams play once more, on Jan. 13. ... 49ers WR Michael Crabtree sat courtside in an all-black get-up complete with dark shades.

Notebook: Warriors 106, Nuggets 105

Geoff Lepper, for NBA.com
Posted Fri Nov 30, 2012 2:24 AM - Updated Fri Nov 30, 2012 2:24 AM

THE FACTS: David Lee had 31 points, nine rebounds and six assists as the Golden State Warriors survived a buzzer-beating 3-point attempt by Andre Iguodala that didn't, holding off the Denver Nuggets 106-105 Thursday.

Klay Thompson had 21 points with a career-best nine rebounds and Stephen Curry notched his first double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 assists for the Warriors, who came back from a 16-point deficit early in the third quarter. At 9-6, Golden State moved into a tie for first place atop the Pacific Division with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Iguodala had 22 points to lead Denver, but missed the last of three free throws with 3.4 seconds remaining to squander a chance at forcing overtime. Danilo Gallinari finished with 20 points and nine rebounds.

TURNING POINT: Denver had multiple chances to tie or win in the dying seconds, but couldn't quite cash any of them in. Down three but with possession after forcing a 15-foot fadeaway miss by Jarrett Jack, the Nuggets pushed the ball upcourt to Iguodala, who drew what was judged to be a shooting foul behind the 3-point arc on Jack at the 3.4-second mark. Iguodala made his first two free throws and missed the last, but the rebound went off of Golden State's Draymond Green with 2.1 seconds left. After a botched inbounds pass ran the clock to 0.5 seconds, the Nuggets found Iguodala on the left wing, but his 3-pointer came just a split-second too late.

QUOTABLE: "Great camera work. Shout out to the cameraman."

-- Warriors coach Mark Jackson on the replay that confirmed Iguodala's shot came after time expired.

THE STAT: After being savaged for a combined 124 points in the paint in their first two meetings this season, the Warriors responded Thursday, holding Denver to just 44. The Nuggets, ranked No. 1 in offensive rebounding at 15.5 per game, had just 10 on the night, and were limited to 13 second-chance points.

INSIDE THE ARENA: There was a fingernail-chewing wait for Oracle Arena fans during the final replay review on Iguodala's shot. Tensions were already high because many in the crowd felt the referees had mistakenly given the ball to the Nuggets to set up the play. On the previous inbounds, Andre Miller's looping pass meant for Ty Lawson came up short, and the ball bounced out of bounds after a tussle between Lawson and Curry.

QUOTABLE II: "We were pretty confident on a lot of the calls that didn't go our way during the course of the game. So we really weren't sure. We're happy that one went in our favor."

-- Warriors' Jarrett Jack

HOT: Lee went 13-for-15 from the floor en route to his 12th career 30-point game and helped carry the Warriors to a 51.2 percent mark as a team.

NOT: Denver was shooting 50.7 percent through three quarters, but the wheels came off in the fourth period, when the Nuggets were 4-for-17. That included a 1-for-9 stretch to open the quarter, allowing Golden State to erase an eight-point deficit in short order.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Jack had his best game as a Warrior, dropping a season-high 18 points with five assists in what was often a three-guard Golden State attack. Unfortunately for him, the Warriors only have one more game left against Denver this season; Jack is averaging 14.3 points per game against the Nuggets in 2012-13, 6.2 against everyone else.

GOOD MOVE: The Nuggets struggled mightily through the first 16 minutes of play, falling behind 43-34 with 7:47 remaining in the second quarter. Shortly thereafter, Denver coach George Karl abandoned the idea of trying to take advantage of Golden State's small lineup with size, choosing instead to attack with speed and a smallball quintet of his own. Gallinari came in for JaVale McGee at the 7:39 mark, and the Nuggets finished the quarter off with a 26-8 run that left them up nine at the half.

BAD MOVE: Andre Miller hadn't played for more than 7 1/2 minutes when Karl brought him in to trigger the Nuggets' inbounds play with 2.1 seconds left. With lanky Warriors rookie Harrison Barnes in his face, Miller's pass was nearly intercepted and arguably should have gone to Golden State when it went out of bounds.

NOTABLE: Lawson finished with 17 points, nine assists, four rebounds and four steals for Denver. . . . Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried was relatively quiet with just 10 points and seven boards, but did have a career-high five blocks, including a couple of spectacular chase-downs to erase Golden State fast-break opportunities. . . . This is the latest Golden State has held a share of the division lead since December 2005. . . . Warriors rookie center Festus Ezeli put up two points, which is remarkable only because he went scoreless in a combined 28 minutes during his first two appearances against the Nuggets.

UP NEXT: For the Nuggets, Friday @ L.A. Lakers, Monday vs. Toronto, Wednesday @ Atlanta. For the Warriors, Saturday vs. Indiana, Monday vs. Orlando, Wednesday @ Detroit.

• Nuggets: Chandler, Miller
• Warriors: Bogut, Rush

• Nuggets: --
• Warriors: --

• Lead Changes: 4
• Times Tied: 4

• Arena: ORACLE Arena, Oakland, CA
• Officials: #10 Ron Garretson, #30 John Goble, #70 Brent Barnaky
• Attendance: 17627
• Duration: 2:34