Denver Nuggets 97 Final
Recap | Box Score		 112 Golden State Warriors
David Lee, PF 38 MIN | 8-15 FG | 1-2 FT | 9 REB | 1 AST | 17 PTS | +17

Lee had a big first half, scoring 12 points on a combination of drives and post ups but faded a bit in the second half, attempting only three shots. He was his usual self on the boards and provided some defensive support to his teammates particularly in the second half where he helped trap ball handlers.

Dorell Wright, SF 20 MIN | 5-8 FG | 1-2 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 11 PTS | -1

Dorell failed to connect from 3-point range but offered more variety than usual in this contest. The Warriors’ forward forced a few miscues and got out in transition where he scored rather easily.
Jeremy Tyler, F 17 MIN | 4-9 FG | 2-2 FT | 8 REB | 0 AST | 10 PTS | +1

Jeremy’s night was cut short early as he accumulated three fouls in the first quarter, but the second half was a different animal altogether as the big man was a presence on the boards and also on the interior where he contested and even blocked a few shots.
Charles Jenkins, G 23 MIN | 1-3 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 8 AST | 2 PTS | -2

Jenkins probed the Nuggets defense and found open teammates who were able to convert their attempts. Also, the Hofstra product held his own defensively, staying in front of Lawson for most of the night.
Klay Thompson, G 22 MIN | 6-11 FG | 1-2 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 15 PTS | +13

Thompson got lost on a few defensive possessions — which earned him some considerable time on the bench — but he made up for it with his playmaking on offense. He converted from deep, midrange and even got to the basket, which kept the defense off balance.

Three Things We Saw

  1. The Golden State Warriors’ defense was horrible in the first half. They were active early, which helped them force turnovers, but their rotations were often quite late and when the Nuggets had them defend multiple ball screens, they got confused quite easily and allowed wide open attempts and failed to box out players around the basket.
  2. The team defense may have been far from picture perfect, but Dominic McGuire played an impressive game on that end of the court. He switched on ball screens to disrupt the Nuggets offense, came out to help teammates on defense and also was quick to run out after defensive stops to get transition opportunities.
  3. The Dubs used their active hands as well as their rebounding on this night to close out defensive possessions and sprint out in bunches for transition opportunities. Indeed, Golden State got out and got some dunks, alley oops and spot up 3-pointers as they accumulated 25 fast break points against the Nuggets.

One Response

  1. Tej Kamaraju

    I know my comments are coming a bit late, but I was also extremely excited with the way the warriors played that night, and hope it’ll be a preview of next year. GO WARRIORS!!!