Draymond Green’s steal on Nikola Jokic in the game’s final minute helped seal a 118-113 Warriors win in Game 3 on Thursday night in Denver.
The Dubs held the Nuggets to just two points over the game’s last three minutes and 20 seconds, forcing three turnovers and holding Denver to 1-of-6 shooting from the field.
Stephen Curry scored eight of the Warriors’ final 14 points, recording 27 points in the win. Jordan Poole added 27 points of his own, with Klay Thompson scoring 26 points.
TEAM LEADERS
THREE GUARDS
Curry, Poole, and Thompson combined for 80 of the Warriors’ 118 points in Thursday night’s win. The three guards made 28-of-48 (58.3%) attempts from the field and 12-of-27 (44.4%) from 3-point range. The trio scored 20 points in the final quarter as the Dubs outscored the Nuggets 31-24 to close out the win.
SHOOTING SUCCESS
The Dubs got off to a hot start, making nine of their first 11 shots from the field and had continued success shooting the ball on the night. The Warriors shot a series-high 55.4 percent, including making a series-high 18 3-pointers.
TWO-WAY DRAYMOND
Green showed off his playmaking ability in the win, recording a team-high 10 assists on the night. He also added six points, five rebounds, two steals and one block, including arguably the most important play of the night, with his steal on Nuggets center Nikola Jokic in the game’s final minute.
SECOND QUARTER SURGE
In Game 1, the Dubs trailed by one point at the end of the first quarter, but a strong second quarter gave them an 11-point halftime lead. Game 2 followed a similar trajectory, with a one-point first quarter deficit turning into a six-point halftime lead. Thursday was again the same, with the Warriors extending a two-point first quarter lead into a 10-point margin at halftime. The Dubs made 76.5 percent of their field goal in the second frame on Thursday (13-for-17) and 77.8 percent of their 3-point attempts (7-for-9), scoring 35 points in the quarter.
A 21-6 Nuggets run to start the third quarter, followed by a 7-0 Warriors run set the stage for a back-and-forth fourth quarter.
KLAY PASSES RAY ALLEN
With six 3-pointers on the night, Klay Thompson passed Ray Allen (382) for the third most 3-pointers made in NBA Playoffs history, trailing only Stephen Curry (481) and LeBron James (432). His 41.6 3-point percentage in the playoffs in his career is the highest in NBA history amongst players with at least 170 made threes.
PAYTON’S INSTANT IMPACT
Gary Payton II entered the game for the first time with 4:29 remaining in the first quarter. Within his first 35 seconds of action, Payton made a corner 3-pointer, grabbed a defensive rebound and ran the court for Curry to find him for an open lay-up. Payton added two more rebounds in the first frame, including an offensive rebound that resulted in a Jordan Poole And-1. Payton finished the game with 11 points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting, including three 3-pointers and a plus-10 differential.
ROAD WARRIORS
With the win, the Warriors have now won at least one road game in 24 straight playoff series’, an NBA record streak. The streak began with a road victory against the Nuggets in the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs. The Dubs are 33-17 on the road in the playoffs since 2015, including 10-2 on the road in the first round. They will have the chance to close out the series on Sunday in Denver (12:30 p.m., ABC).
More Notables ...
- The Warriors made 12 3-pointers in the game’s first half, matching a Warriors-playoff record for threes in a single half for the sixth time (last, 5/26/18 vs. Houston).
- In the series, Golden State is outscoring Denver (122.3 to 108.7 points per game), and outshooting the Nuggets from the field (.542 to .463 FG%) and from 3-point range (.443 to .365 3P%)… Golden State shot 55.4 percent, its third-straight game shooting at least 50 percent from the field.
- The Warriors improve to 35-32 all-time in Game 3 of the playoffs… Since the 2015 NBA Playoffs, the Warriors are 12-9 in Game 3s.
- The Warriors improved to 40-3 dating back to the 2015 postseason when shooting 40-percent or better from 3-point range… Golden State made 45.0% of its shots from three in tonight’s win.
- Golden State matched its franchise-record for threes made in a single half when it sank 12 3-pointers in tonight’s first half (done six times)
- Curry, Thompson and Poole are the 3rd trio in Warriors history to each record 25 points and 50% shooting in a playoff game and the first since 1989: Chris Mullin, Mitch Richmond & Terry Teagle; the first was in 1958: Neil Johnston, Paul Arizin & Tom Gola (ESPN Stats & Info)…. The Warriors had three players score at least 20 points (Stephen Curry – 27 points, Jordan Poole – 27 points, Klay Thompson – 26 points) for the second-straight game.
- Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr earned his 80th career postseason victory, becoming the 12th coach in NBA history to record 80-or-more playoff wins… He is the franchise’s all-time leader in the category.
- Jordan Poole became the 16th player to score at least 25 points in their first three career NBA Playoff games and only the second Warriors player to do so, joining Wilt Chamberlain in 1960 (first five games)… Poole totaled 86 points in his first three career playoff games, second-most by a Warriors player in their first three career playoff games, behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 116 points… Poole is averaging 28.7 points (.667 FG%, .591 3P%, .810 FT%), 3.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists in the series.
- Stephen Curry came off the bench for the third-straight game (fifth time in playoff career) and scored 27 points… In his career, Curry is averaging 29.0 points (.532 FG%, .411 3P%, .857 FT%) in 27.8 minutes per game… Curry (3,045 career points) passed James Worthy (3,022 career points) for 26th on NBA all-time playoff points list… Extended his NBA-record playoff 3-point streak to 115 games.
- Draymond Green dished out 10-or-more assists, the 17th time in the playoffs in his career… He recorded two steals, becoming the 29th player in NBA history with 200 career playoff steals… With one block, Green tied Scottie Pippen for 24th on the NBA all-time playoffs blocks list with 185… According to ESPN Stats & Info, Green joins LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Jason Kidd and Larry Bird as the only players in postseason history with 200 steals and 10 triple-doubles.
- Andre Iguodala appeared in his 172nd career playoff game, tying John Havlicek for 21st on the NBA all-time playoffs games played list… Iguodala passed Karl Malone (611) for 40th on NBA all-time playoffs assists list.