Warriors at Nuggets
If the NBA season ended on Sunday, the top-seeded Golden State Warriors would host the eighth-seeded Denver Nuggets in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs in what would likely be a high-scoring affair, at least for one team. The Warriors will take their crack at the Nuggets' suspect defense when they visit Denver in a possible playoff preview on Monday.
Golden State is the team everybody else is chasing right now and it cruises into Denver after winning its last three games by an average of 20.7 points, including an emotional 130-114 triumph over the Thunder on Saturday in Kevin Durant's return to Oklahoma City. Durant led the way with 34 points as the Warriors shot 52.9 percent from the floor to boost their league-best scoring average (118.6) and field-goal percentage (50.1). That offense will go up against a Nuggets defense that is last in the NBA in defensive field-goal percentage, allowing opponents to go off at 48 percent from the floor, and surrendered at least 117 points in six of its last seven games. Denver allowed the Cleveland Cavaliers to shoot 54.8 percent, including 15-of-30 from beyond the arc, in a 125-109 setback on Saturday.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, CSN Bay Area (Golden State), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (46-8): One of the main reasons Durant wanted to come to Golden State in the first place was to play in an offense that shares the ball, and the Warriors hand out a league-high 31.1 assists. "I feel like in certain situations we force ourselves to get into a flow and are really precious with the ball," Warriors sixth man Andre Iguodala told ESPN while describing a first-quarter run on Saturday that turned the game in their favor. "The ball’s moving. We just get this flow. Everybody’s doing exactly what four other guys think they’re going to do." Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry each added 26 points on Saturday and Thompson is averaging 27.6 points during a streak of seven straight games scoring at least 20 points.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (24-30): Denver stuck with Cleveland in the first half but surrendered an 18-0 run in the third quarter as the fatigue of three road games in four nights set in. "The 18-0 run against the world champs is going to be a hard mountain to climb," Nuggets coach Michael Malone told reporters. "But the fact that we didn’t quit, that is going to pay off for us at some point." Malone can also be encouraged by the play of 21-year-old big man Nikola Jokic, who followed up a 40-point outburst at New York on Friday with 27 points and 13 rebounds on Saturday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Warriors PF Draymond Green is averaging five points in the last two games after putting up 17.5 in the previous two contests.
2. The Nuggets reportedly traded C Jusuf Nurkic and a first-round draft pick to Portland on Sunday in exchange for center Mason Plumlee and a second-round choice.
3. Golden State took the first two meetings this season, including a 125-101 triumph in Denver on Nov. 10.