Warriors at Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets and the Golden State Warriors are starting to break away from the pack in a crowded Western Conference, and both are playing well heading into a showdown on Tuesday. The Warriors will try to take back the lead in the conference and earn a fifth consecutive victory when they visit the Nuggets.
Golden State sits a half-game behind Denver and began a stretch with seven of eight on the road by outlasting the Dallas Mavericks 119-114 on Sunday behind 48 points from superstar point guard Stephen Curry. "He had mismatches," fellow star Kevin Durant explained to reporters of Curry's big night. "He was making shots over everybody tonight. Why even run plays when we can just give him the ball?" The Nuggets suffered a surprising 102-93 loss at Phoenix on Saturday but bounced right back the next night to knock off the Portland Trail Blazers 116-113 and improve to 18-3 at home, including wins in 12 straight. "For years it was the altitude," Denver coach Michael Malone told reporters of the team's home success. "What I like to think now is it's not only the altitude, but you have a really talented team and you have great fan support where this building is rocking every night."
TV: 9 p.m. ET, NBCS Bay Area (Golden State), Altitude (Denver)
ABOUT THE WARRIORS (29-14): Golden State is averaging 130 points over its last six games as the team begins to gel after a spate of injuries took Curry and fellow All-Star Draymond Green out of the lineup for extended periods. The Warriors are close to getting another All-Star with center DeMarcus Cousins expected to make his team and season debut on Friday and the team is preparing by adjusting the rotation to give Curry and Durant more time together on the floor. The two combined for 76 points on 27-of-53 shooting (13-of-23 from 3-point range) in Sunday's win and average a combined 57.6 points.
ABOUT THE NUGGETS (29-13): Denver doesn't have the plethora of All-Stars that Golden State enjoys but it does have center Nikola Jokic, who might be right up with Curry and Durant as dark horse MVP candidates. Jokic collected 40 points on 15-of-23 shooting (4-of-7 from 3-point range), 10 rebounds and eight assists in Sunday's victory, narrowly missing a third triple-double in four games. "They tried playing him 1-on-1 more than once and he was just having his way," Malone told reporters of Jokic. "They went to a double team, he finds Malik (Beasley) for a 3. That's what you love about Nikola Jokic. He's always going to make the right play. He's never going to force anything."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Nuggets PF Trey Lyles (wrist) sat out the last two games and is day-to-day.
2. Warriors SG Klay Thompson went 2-of-11 from 3-point range on Sunday after knocking down 27-of-50 over the previous six contests.
3. Denver earned a 100-98 home win over Golden State on Oct. 21 as Jokic collected 23 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.