SAN FRANCISCO — Nikola Jokic put up a 35-point, 20-rebound, 12-assist triple-double on Sunday afternoon, but his Denver Nuggets still lost 128-117 to an undermanned Golden State Warriors team that was missing its four highest-paid players.
Jimmy Butler is out for the season with an ACL tear, Stephen Curry will miss at least another week with persistent knee soreness, Kristaps Porzingis woke up ill and didn’t make it to the arena and Draymond Green was scratched after his lower back tightened up right before tip.
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Without those four — making a combined $170.3 million this season — the Warriors still made 15 first-half 3s and went up 14 on a fatigued Nuggets defense. This was Denver’s third road game in four days coming out of the All-Star break, made more difficult by the early 12:30 p.m. local tip.
“Our whole game plan going in was just keep the pressure on them,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Try to wear them down, keep running. I think that was definitely a factor. We were rested, and they were not.”
Despite piling up the stats, Jokic, in particular, was a target of the Warriors’ altered attack. Al Horford stepped into the starting lineup for the injured Green, and the Warriors utilized his ability to stretch the floor.
He made two 3s in the first 76 seconds, three in the first quarter and six total, punishing Jokic for straying too far away. Horford’s 22 points were the most he has scored in a Warriors uniform.
“That was confusing,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said of the late switch from Green to Horford. “I think that’s why we give injury reports. Obviously, the game plan was very different.”
The Warriors went cold in the third quarter, missing all 12 of their 3s, and the Nuggets outscored them 34-19. Jokic had 14 points and seven rebounds, playing every second of the third quarter as Denver built a six-point lead before he finally went to the bench.
But then guard Brandin Podziemski flipped the game back in the Warriors’ direction. He entered the fourth quarter having missed nine of his 10 shots. In the fourth quarter, Podziemski made all six of his shots, putting up 15 points, grabbing eight rebounds and adding two assists in a 12-minute stretch.
Podziemski hit three of the biggest shots of the afternoon down the stretch and finished with 18 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists, perhaps his most important performance in what has been an underwhelming third NBA season for the former first-round pick.
“It’s been up and down, for sure,” Kerr said of Podziemski. “We know what he can do from the last couple years. He’s a very versatile player.
“It’s really more about finding that sweet spot that we’re trying to get him where he’s making plays but not dominating the ball.”
Jokic returned for the final six minutes but didn’t have nearly the same impact as in the first three quarters. He scored three points, had one rebound, took only two shots and the Nuggets were outscored by 11.
This was Jokic’s 10th game back after missing 16 straight due to a hyperextended knee. He admitted postgame that the integration is still a work in progress.
“I’ve never been in this situation, just because it felt so good before injury,” Jokic said. “Definitely need a little bit more time, a little bit more games than usual.”
