The Warriors tip off 2017 with a home matchup against the Denver Nuggets on Monday night.
Warriors vs. NuggetsMonday, Jan. 27:30 p.m.Oracle Arena
TV: CSN Bay Area
RADIO: 95.7 The Game, Warriors Radio Network
HAPPY NEW YEAR
The Warriors tip off 2017 with a home matchup against the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. This will be the second of three matchups between the two teams this season, after Golden State prevailed 125-101 in their first encounter in Denver back on November 10th. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Watch the action on CSN Bay Area, or listen to the call on 95.7 The Game and the Warriors Radio Network.
LAST TIME OUT
Klay Thompson led Golden State with 29 points in their 108-99 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday Night at Oracle Arena. Full Recap
MATCHUP AT A GLANCE
GSW
29-5
1st in West
117.0 PPG (1st)
45.4 RPG (5th)
31.2 APG (1st)
DEN
14-19
9th in West
107.8 PPG (6th)
47.6 RPG (2nd)
22.8 APG (9th)
PROJECTED STARTERS
GSW: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Zaza Pachulia
DEN: Emmanuel Mudiay, Gary Harris, Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and Nikola Jokic
INJURY & ROSTER NOTES
GSW: Shaun Livingston (left hip and right elbow contusions) and Patrick McCaw (flu-like symptoms) are questionable. Team Notes
DEN: None. Team Notes
SUSTAINED SUCCESS
The arrival of a New Year seems as fitting a time as any to look back and reflect on what the Warriors accomplished in 2016. With their win over Dallas on Friday, Golden State finished 2016 with a record of 72-12 (.857) in regular season games, the exact same mark the Warriors posted in 2015. Those are tied for the second-highest winning percentage in a calendar year in NBA history, trailing only the 1996 Chicago Bulls, who went 74-11 (.871). However, Golden State’s combined regular-season record over the 2015 and 2016 calendar years of 144-24 (.857) is the best winning percentage in consecutive years in NBA history. Given how often they’ve won, it’s been easy to take the Warriors’ frequent and prolonged success for granted, but make no mistake, what they’ve done over the last two years is nothing short of remarkable. On Monday night against the Nuggets, they’ll begin their attempt to make 2017 their most successful year yet.
TEAM LEADERS
GSW
PTS: Durant (25.9)
REB: Durant (8.9)
AST: Green (7.3)
DEN
PTS: Gallinari (16.9)
REB: Faried (7.9)
AST: Nelson (4.2)
DENVER SCOUTING REPORT
The Nuggets haven’t had the kind of start to the season that they’d hoped for, but regardless, they’re still right in the thick of the playoff race. With a record of 14-19, Denver is currently tied with Sacramento for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. They’d been playing better as of late, having won six of nine before suffering a home defeat at the hands of the 76ers on Friday. They’re the second-best rebounding team in the league with an average of 47.6 boards per game, and they possess an arsenal of big men – including the likes of Nikola Jokic, Kenneth Faried and Jusuf Nurkic – that would rival any other team in the NBA. They do, however, allow the fifth-most points per game, and encounter a Golden State team on Monday that is currently leading the NBA in scoring by a wide margin. If the Warriors can hang with the Nuggets on the glass, it could prove to be the difference in the game.