The Warriors will take on the Denver Nuggets in the final match of the 2014 NBA preseason. Last time these two met, they played at a neutral site in Des Moines, Iowa. With high expectations this season, the Warriors have looked great in these exhibition games. Before losing two games, they had won four straight and going into tonight’s game, they are sporting a 5-2 record. The Nuggets will look for their third win as they conclude their preseason tonight too. As a team, the Warriors have looked good so far and they’ll need to keep all cylinders firing with the regular season commencing soon. Check out the game recap below:
1st Quarter
Golden State will start Andrew Bogut, David Lee, Harrison Barnes, Klay Thompson, and Stephen Curry to match up with Timofey Mozgov, JJ Hickson, Danilo Gallinari, Arron Afflalo, and Erick Green. Bogut got the scoring started for the Warriors with a left handed flip shop. The Warriors have six points, and they have come off three shots; all scored by different players. Thompson looked great on both ends by scoring on a dibble jump shot from the top then playing hounding defense on Arron Afflalo. Curry got on the scoresheet by making a three ball. Thompson drove by Afflalo into Mozgov for layup plus the foul. Bogut and Curry showed off their chemistry beautifully with a Bogut crossover and bounce pass entry for a Curry scoop layup. At the first timeout, the Warriors led the Nuggets 16-10. Andre Iguodala came in Barnes. Off a Thompson miss, Bogut skies up and tipped slammed the ball. Bogut isn’t finished, on the defensive end, Bogut stole the ball from Mozgov, then makes a beautiful outlet pass down court to Iguodala for an emphatic dunk. Lee joined in on the fun and dropped in a confident jumper from the top of the arc. Thompson with a huge defensive stop as he blocked Foye on a running jumper attempt. After the second timeout, Thompson made a three ball in transition. Draymond Green and Leandro Barbosa entered the floor to see their first minutes of the game. In an all-out team effort, the Warriors are led by Thompson’s 10 points while Bogut led the team with three assists.
#Warriors 29, Denver 21 (end 1st Q) The Warriors have 11 assists on 13 made field goals and are shooting 65 percent from the floor.
— Rusty Simmons (@Rusty_SFChron) October 25, 2014
2nd Quarter
Justin Holiday came in for the Warriors alongside Barbosa, Green, Iguodala, and Kuzmic to start the second. Festus Ezeli made his second appearance in two games after missing the last 18 months. Barbos showed off why he’s called the Brazilian Blur. He lulled Chandler and finished a running circus shot for a three point opportunity, which he completed. Kerr has looked like a genius by moving Iggy to the second unit. Coming off the bench, he’s been a great playmaker for those around. Iguodala made a pretty pass to Ezeli who missed a dunk but he was fouled by Jusuf Nurkic. The below nine timeout halted action but the Warriors continued to lead the Nuggets 39-31. Again, Iggy produces as a playmaker with an alley-oop lob from the three point line to a highflying Holiday. On the ensuing possession, Iggy found Holiday for an open corner three. Curry re-entered the game with about seven minutes to go in the second quarter. Ezeli showed off his offensive post game by being patient and utilizing clean footwork for a three point play attempt. His missed free throw led to a Green rebound which ultimately got to Curry for a quick three. With half the quarter gone by, the Warriors led by 14. Some sloppy play by the Warriors and the lead quickly shrank to nine. Thompson proved to be still hot; he came around to a Bogut handoff to make a contested jumper plus the foul. Another Bogut rebound led to Iggy starting the break then he found Curry for another transition three. Attemping to go 2-for-1 at the end of the quarter, a messy play led to a defensive breakdown for the Nuggets. Curry with a pretty behind the back pass to Bogut for a reverse jam. Thompson and Curry combine for 28 points and the Warriors continued to lead 65-53.
HALFTIME: @warriors 65 – @denvernuggets 53. #LetsGoWarriors — Golden St. Warriors (@warriors) October 25, 2014
3rd Quarter
Lee made a four foot jumper to open scoring in the third. Curry to Lee on a basic but precise pass to lead him towards the basket for a layup. Thompson continued to look impressive by making jumpers with ease. Bogut chimes on the passing game by finding Thompson on a backdoor cut. Thompson had 15 entering the third quarter, but that quickly turned into 24. The Nuggets were scoring a lot as well. The Nuggets cut the lead down to seven points with a few baskets from JJ Hickson and Quincy Miller. Surprisingly, Draymond Green scored his first bucket of the game with a little less than two minutes left in the quarter. Both teams went cold to start the quarter, but Barbosa continued to hit some shots and was able to keep the Warriors lead at 7. After three quarters, the Warriors led 93-80.
GSW with 12 minutes left in preseason, lead Denver 93-80…Barbosa with 13 points in 10 minutes
— Tim Roye (@warriorsvox) October 25, 2014
4th Quarter
The fourth quarter scoring began from an Arthur jump shot off the McGee assist immediately followed by another basket from McGee this time around. The Nuggets came coming in close, but could simply not get over the hump. At this point, you would expect most of the reserves to be on the floor, but their key players stayed in the game. Curry and Thompson had an impact down the stretch, making sure the Nuggets never got closer than seven. Jusuf Nurkic was pesky in the final minutes, cutting the lead down to two at one point. Curry finished with 17 points and 11 assists, but the real star was Thompson, who finished with 35 points. The Warriors get the final win of the pre-season with a final score of 119-112.
Klay going for 45+ at least twice this season
— warriorsworld (@warriorsworld) October 25, 2014