Nuggets at Warriors
The Golden State Warriors recently suffered their second loss but still have a winning streak to protect when they return home. The Warriors will try to push their streak to 34 straight home wins when they host the Denver Nuggets on Saturday.
Golden State split its Texas road trip this week, falling to the Dallas Mavericks in its first game without star Steph Curry (leg) before recovering with a win over Houston on Thursday as Klay Thompson and Draymond Green stepped up in Curry’s absence. The reigning NBA MVP could be back as soon as Saturday and coach Steve Kerr (back), who made the road trip to Texas, and forward Harrison Barnes (ankle) are inching closer to their own returns for the Warriors. The Nuggets ended the year by dropping four straight and seven of their last eight while dealing with their own injury issues. Leading scorer Danilo Gallinari (ankle) has missed the last six games but could be ready to make his return on Saturday.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, Altitude (Denver), CSN Bay Area (Golden State)
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (12-21): Gallinari’s injury has opened up more playing time for Will Barton, who is averaging 22.8 points in the last six games and went for 31 on 12-of-22 shooting in a 110-103 loss at Portland on Wednesday. The 24-year-old shot 50 percent or better from the floor in each of the last four games and buried 4-of-6 from beyond the arc against the Blazers. "It's bittersweet," Barton, who used to play for Portland, told reporters after the most recent loss. "I wanted to get the win real bad."
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (30-2): Golden State was disappointed in its lackluster effort in Dallas and looked like a different team in the 114-110 win at Houston. “I expected that out of all of our guys,” interim coach Luke Walton told reporters. “We’re the NBA champions. When you lose by 25 or 30 points, you expect a much stronger performance the next night. The thing that makes us happiest as a staff is that they did it together.” Green handed out a career-high 16 assists in his fifth triple-double, and the Warriors recorded 35 assists on 43 field goals.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Warriors G Leandro Barbosa (shoulder) and C Festus Ezeli (foot) are both questionable.
2. Nuggets C Jusuf Nurkic (knee) could be ready to make his season debut on Saturday.
3. Golden State averaged 118.5 points in a pair of wins over Denver in November.