The unlikely 2-seed came to the court of the Western Conference kings in an attempt to secure a win for playoff home floor supremacy. The Denver Nuggets were only one game behind the Warriors coming into tonight. A win would send the 1-seed into a tie with five more games left in the season, a loss would be a prime opportunity squandered.
Unsurprisingly, the Warriors went full Warrior in this shockingly meaningful end-of-regular-season matchup. Kevin Durant was ejected in the middle of the third for essentially trying to act tough in front of a ref, but the overpowered Dubs didn't need him to seal the deal. DeMarcus Cousins (28-12-5-2-2), Steph Curry (17-5-5-3), and a fully engaged Warriors squad pimp-smacked the Nuggets back down to irrelevancy in a four-quarter shellacking of the overmatched second-seed, 102-116.
Rhythm of the Game
The Nuggets looked sharp to start this one off. They led by seven thanks to active plays from Nikola Jokic, but the Warriors promptly evened the game around the 20-point mark. Golden State kept going down low to Boogie, like they were directly attempting to challenge Jokic. They were clearly trying to make him uncomfortable. Who better to do it with than the antagonizer Boogie Cousins?
The rest of the Warriors were doing their job on the defensive end though. Active hands led to a ton of turnovers on post entry passes, leading to some gorgeous show-offy fastbreaks. You could tell early on that the Dubs actually wore their give-a-shit shoes tonight. An 8-0 run capped off the first for a 30-24 lead at the end of the quarter.
The Nuggets hung around in the beginning of the second, but as the quarter neared its conclusion it felt like the rout was on. Golden State came out with all the energy in the world - the amount fans wish they'd play with every game - and hopped out to a near twenty point lead.
Golden State was just treating Denver like the annoying little brother that thinks they're good - but they ain't shit. Kevin Durant particularly embodied this message. KD was driving, dunking, puffing his chest, and shaking his head with a determined scowl as he capped the half off with a dunk to make it a sixteen point game, 43-59. The "Best Player In The World" Title truly feels up for grabs with LeBron out of the playoffs. You couldn't help but think Durant knew damn well this was the time to grab it by the throat.
The third quarter commenced, and this one still felt like your run of the mill rout of an established team against an up and comer in over their heads. Everything was going according to script, but then all that got jumbled up when Kevin Durant got two quick technicals and was swiftly ejected! The first technical was a normal T, but the second was because he tried acting all tough with the official.
The Warriors were still up big, but this one could still go either way with eight minutes left in the third. Unfortunately, it would not be so. The Dubs kept up their excellent defensive performance to go with white-hot shooting as they sauntered into the fourth quarter up by 22 big ones, 64-86.They pushed it to nearly 30 in the final period, so the 102-116 final result wasn't truly indicative of how badly the Warriors beat down their Western Conference challenger. Warriors take the easy, empowering win.
Takeaways
The Warriors gave a shit tonight folks. They didn't want to head into the playoffs knowing they left home court on the table, so they buckled down on defense and wiped the floor with Nugget blood. It's hilarious how powerful they are. Kevin Durant gets ejected in the third for barking at an official like a fake tough guy and it didn't even matter for them because hot free agent pickup DeMarcus Cousins drew up 28-12. Jesus Christ.
This team is two superstar players and three stars with replacement-level guys coming off the bench for them. Steve Kerr staggers the lineups to keep a balance of fresh legs and competent offense employed at all times. Boogie has been up and down for them since coming off of his devastating Achilles injury, but his full power was on display tonight with the big time stat line. The Warriors were in full-blown playoff mode, effortlessly reminding us in an endless display of flash of the old game-of-horse-during-a-backyard-cookout adage, "I still got it."
If you're a Nuggets player or fan, you have to be hanging your head low right now. You were the first seed early on, and the second seed all freakin' year. Now the one team you thought you were closing the distance on just blew you out when they really decided to give a shit? How far is the gap really between you two now? Whew....not a great space to be in mentally.
Matter of fact, can any Western Conference team challenge them based on what we've seen this year? The widely held answer is no. I could see the Rockets with a healthy Chris Paul being the only true Western Conference challengers to them, but if we are being realistic I think we have to turn our heads East for an answer.
The depth of Milwaukee and Toronto is comparable to Golden State's top-heavy attack. Milwaukee took a blow to their depth with injuries to Malcolm Brogdon and Donte Divicenzo, but they could still put up a fight behind the star power of Giannis and Khris Middleton. Toronto is even deeper with guys like Marc Gasol, Pascal Siakam, Danny Green, and OG Anunoby backing up a well-rest Kawhi.
On paper, the Raptors seem like the most likely team to take down Golden State, but I don't know....I kind of have an affinity for Giannis. I still haven't forgotten that 30-point beatdown that a full Bucks squad laid down on the Warriors at home. I sincerely hope they overcome the adversity of minor injuries to make it on top of the NBA Finals mountain. I just can't wait for the playoffs to start, and I can't wait to become a temporary Bucks fan baby.
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