SAN FRANCISCO — Nikola Jokic is the most unstoppable force in the NBA, and no amount of momentum the Warriors have built up this month could change that.
Golden State had won 10 of its last 12 games before the defending champion Nuggets arrived, but Jokic put a stop to their winning run on Sunday night. In a nationally televised game, Jokic’s 32 points, 16 rebounds and 16 assists led Denver to a 119-103 victory . Defensively, he helped goad Draymond Green into a game-high six turnovers.
Although the Warriors (29-27), led by Klay Thompson, started hot and played Denver tight, the Nuggets secured a 4-0 season series sweep in the Chase Center. When Thompson went cold, so did Golden State’s offense — by the time Steve Kerr pulled his starters, they’d scored just 16 points in the fourth quarter.
The Warriors lost each of their three matchups against Denver entering Sunday, with the games decided by 12 points total. The last Nuggets victory in Chase Center came off the fingertips of Nikola Jokic, whose 39-foot buzzer beater broke a 127-127 tie as time expired.
“They’ve had our number this year, we’ve had three really close games against them,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said pregame. “The last one in particular hurt, giving up the big lead late. We’re a different team, playing pretty well at both ends, and this is a good opportunity to prove that.”
In what Kerr tabbed as an “ultimate test,” the Warriors were locked in from the jump, with active hands in passing lanes and back-cuts generating looks at the rim on offense. Warriors jerseys blurred around the court with purpose and the ball whipped around on a string.
The big question to watch throughout was how Golden State would size up to Jokic, the two-time MVP. With Draymond Green starting at the five, center Kevon Looney’s minutes have dwindled. Looney, though, has experience guarding Jokic and is their most bruising option behind Green. He was much more involved in the smaller Warriors’ game plan against Denver.
Jokic scored in the post against Looney shortly after he checked in, but Looney got consecutive stops without double-team help right after. The key against Jokic is to keep Green and Looney out of foul trouble, and they accomplished that. No team is going to stop Jokic, arguably the best player in the world, but at least Golden State kept their best options available to slow him.
Meanwhile Thompson, the legendary shooter, was fresh, firing and flow-stating. He canned four 3s in the first quarter, including an off-balance hoist from the wing. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a strong defender, couldn’t stick him.
So often this season, Klay Thompson has sat with a towel on his head, slapping his thighs on the bench in frustration. So often, he’s been a step slow, his shot an inch short. He’s been emotionally vulnerable out in the open — grappling with his own mortality, as his coach said — as he got relegated from the starting lineup for the first time since his rookie season.
But he summoned that patented swagger that seems to come whenever his shots are falling in the first half.
After his fifth triple, Thompson skipped to the baseline and screamed to a raucous Chase Center crowd. At that point, he’d dropped 21 points in nine minutes. Moments later, Thompson put it on the floor to score a driving layup past Zeke Nnaji. When he took a seat in the second quarter, the Warriors had an 11-point lead.
Since getting moved to the bench, which might just be the perfect role for him, Thompson now has put together games of 35 and 23 points.
Despite Thompson’s 23-point half, Jamal Murray and Jokic sparked a 14-0 run to end the first half and prevent Golden State from pulling away.
As Jokic crossed the triple double mark early in the third and Murray couldn’t miss, Steph Curry remained cold. He started 2-for-11 and couldn’t come up with a stopper as Denver ripped off a 12-0 run in the third.
Trailing by 10, Curry finally got going. He earned a handful of free throws and got inside for a finger roll before extending his game back out to the 3-point line. His drive-and-kick to Lester Quinones for a corner 3 tied back-and-forth game at 82.
Yet as soon as Curry got rolling, his splash brother went dry. Thompson, who started 7-for-10, missed five straight shots and didn’t score a point in the second half.
Still, Thompson was in the closing lineup with Curry, Green, Andrew Wiggins and Jonathan Kuminga. Jokic carved it up, going at Green in the paint and working the two-man game with Murray.
With 1:45 left and the Warriors trying to cut into Denver’s eight-point lead, Jokic caught a bounce pass on the short roll and in one motion turned and lobbed an alley-oop to Aaron Gordon. It was the type of majestic play Jokic makes look routine, and he made far too many for Golden State to keep up.