Nuggets at Warriors
The Golden State Warriors have been making history all season and will have a chance to do it again when they host the Denver Nuggets on Monday. The Warriors need one more victory to break the franchise record of 15 straight home wins set by the 1989-90 squad. Denver had been working on a winning streak of its own with five straight before running into trouble over the weekend in back-to-back losses.
The Warriors stumbled briefly in a 127-115 loss at Oklahoma City on Friday that ended an eight-game winning streak but bounced right back by slamming the Houston Rockets 131-106 to close out the two-game excursion on Saturday. “We just wanted to get back to our identity,” Golden State guard Klay Thompson told reporters. “It felt good to get back to what we do best.” The Nuggets are coming off a 113-105 home loss to the Western Conference-worst Minnesota Timberwolves.
TV: 4 p.m. ET, Altitude (Denver), CSN Bay Area (Golden State)
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (18-22): Denver made the move to bring in Jameer Nelson and take some of the pressure off Ty Lawson at point guard last week, and the production from that position has been strong. Nelson and Lawson are combining to average 31.5 points and 15 assists in two games since Nelson took over as the backup, but the Nuggets have dropped both games. Defense was the big issue in Saturday’s loss to the Timberwolves, who shot 53.8 percent from the field and put all five starters in double figures.
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (32-6): Golden State gave Andrew Bogut and Andre Iguodala the night off in Oklahoma City on Friday and the defense clearly suffered as the Warriors allowed a season-worst 52.6 percent shooting in the loss. The two returned on Saturday and Golden State figured everything out in the third quarter, outscoring the Rockets 38-21 in the period to turn a tight game into a rout. Thompson and Stephen Curry scored 27 points apiece for Golden State on Saturday and the two combined to go 53-of-114 from 3-point range in their last seven home games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The road team took each of the four meetings last season and Golden State has won six of the last nine overall.
2. Denver F Kenneth Faried is 20-of-30 from the field over the last four games.
3. Thompson has hit multiple 3-pointers in a career-best and active NBA-high 17 straight games.