Warriors at Nuggets
The Golden State Warriors are looking to post another winning road trip but face difficult circumstances when they visit the Denver Nuggets on Saturday. While Denver was resting Friday, the Warriors were posting a 119-104 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Friday night before hopping on a plane and the team was slated to arrive in the high altitude of Denver after 3:30 a.m. MT.
Golden State was careless with the ball by committing 25 turnovers (one shy of a season worst) against the Kings while rebounding from a 129-99 setback against the Utah Jazz in the opener of the three-game excursion. "We could have been better we were definitely sloppy," All-Star forward Kevin Durant in a postgame television interview. "Coach (Steve Kerr) got on us a bit about that so we've got to correct that against Denver. If we do that against Denver, we're going to lose." The Warriors are 2-1 against the Nuggets this season but Denver's victory was one of the most impressive in the NBA this season, a 96-81 road win Dec. 23 in which Golden State was held to its lowest scoring output of the season. The Nuggets are a solid 20-7 at home and are coming off Thursday's dramatic 127-124 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in which guard Gary Harris drained the winning 3-pointer as time expired.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, NBCS Bay Area (Golden State), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (41-11): Durant had a stellar shooting outing against Sacramento by scoring 33 points on 12-of-17 shooting, including 6-of-7 from 3-point range as Golden State went 17-for-33 as a team. "Just tried to stick to my fundamentals and shoot the shots that I normally shoot," said Durant, "and they went in." It marked the third time in the past 11 games that Durant made six 3-pointers (his season high) in a contest this season and he has scored 30 or more points on nine occasions.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (27-25): The impressive victory over Oklahoma City occurred after Denver had missed last-second, game-winning attempts in losses to the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs. "We needed that and I felt like we deserved that win," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said afterward. "What we've been through the last couple nights - close games, come up short - to get that win ... I'm just so happy for our players." Standout center Nikola Jokic has posted two triple-doubles in the past four games after having 29 points, a career-best 14 assists and 13 rebounds against the Thunder and he delivered a stellar cross-court in-bounds pass to set up Harris' decisive shot.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Warriors have won 10 of the past 14 meetings.
2. Golden State PF David West will miss Saturday's game to attend the funeral of former teammate Rasual Butler, who was killed in a car accident along with his wife early Wednesday morning.
3. Denver C Mason Plumlee (calf) will miss his third consecutive contest.