The Warriors, thriving with the support from their raucous home crowd in their first close-out playoff game at Chase Center, advanced to play the winner of the Memphis-Minnesota series.
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The Golden State Warriors made good use of Stephen Curry’s inclusion in the starting lineup as they beat the Denver Nugget 102-98 and in the process confirmed their place in the Western Conference semifinals. Stephen Curry scored 30 points on his return to the starting lineup.
“Tonight was just a weird feeling because we hadn’t been there in a while,” said Curry. “We wanted it so bad, kind of made it a lot more difficult on ourselves. But we still remember how to do it, which is a good feeling.”
Curry scored 11 points during the fourth quarter after the Warriors began the final 12 minutes down by eight. The sharpshooter converted a three-point play with 1:33 left on the clock and scored again with 29 seconds remaining to help send the Warriors on to the second round in the Western Conference.
“I was a witness, letting him cook, create plays for him. Try to get him open looks and after that, you know what he does,” Gary Payton II said.
Nikola Jokic scored 12 of his 30 points in the final 3:46 and finished with 19 rebounds and eight assists.
The Warriors, thriving with the support from their raucous home crowd in their first close-out playoff game at Chase Center, advanced to play the winner of the Memphis-Minnesota series led 3-2 by the Grizzlies heading into Game 6 on Friday in Minneapolis. It should be noted that the Grizzlies eliminated Golden State in the play-in round last year.
Jokic tied it at 90 on an 18-footer with 2:26 remaining before Payton made a layup moments later. Payton also hit a go-ahead 3-pointer from the corner in front of Denver’s bench with 6:57 left to put Golden State up 86-84. He finished with 15 points.
“He was incredible, both ends of the floor, big shots, big plays,” teammate Draymond Green said.
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Jokic converted two free throws with 3:46 left and finished with 12 for 18 from the floor. DeMarcus Cousins contributed 19 points off the bench against his former Golden State team, and Aaron Gordon added 15 points and nine rebounds.
“That guy is a warrior. I just don’t understand the people that find a way to criticize Nikola Jokic. Is he perfect? No, I’m not saying he is,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “But the guy is the definition of a warrior, competitive, consistent. He impacts the game in so many ways. Hell of a season. Hopefully, he’ll win the MVP again. I think rightfully he deserves it.”
Denver made seven of its first 10 shots after halftime to turn a 48-all tie into a 66-56 lead. Curry’s 3 with 4:06 left pulled the Warriors to 68-67.
“Thankfully I got through pretty much unscathed,” Curry said, happy to have a few days off to rest the foot.
