Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors reacts after a play against the Washington Wizards during the first half at Capital One Arena on April 21, 2021 in Washington, Will Newton/Getty Images/AFP
Stephen Curry led an unusually balanced Golden State attack with a game-high 32 points Friday night as the Warriors beat the Denver Nuggets 118-97 in San Francisco.
Kelly Oubre Jr. had 23 points, Andrew Wiggins 19, Jordan Poole 15 and Mychal Mulder 14 as Golden State (30-30) won despite relying mostly on just eight players, the result of having lost two in the past two days for COVID-related reasons.
Harassed much of the night by Draymond Green, Nuggets star Nikola Jokic was held to 19 points, six rebounds and six assists. Denver (38-21) also lost Will Barton early in the game to an apparently serious hamstring injury.
Steph's 25-point 2nd half lifts @warriors! pic.twitter.com/I8gq7FsuMm
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2021
Opening a season-ending stretch in which they will play nine of 13 at home in their pursuit of a Western Conference playoff spot, the Warriors led most of the way, including 92-77 with 9:41 remaining before the Nuggets made one final push.
Austin Rivers hit a floater and Michael Porter Jr. buried consecutive 3-pointers in an eight-point Nuggets flurry that quickly allowed them to trim more than half the Golden State lead with still 7:44 to play.
But Juan Toscano-Anderson connected on a momentum-changing 3-pointer and Curry, returning to action after a rest earlier in the period, exploded for 13 points down the stretch, helping Golden State win a second straight over Denver at home to capture the season series 2-1.
The 30-point game was the 12th in Curry’s past 13 outings. He was held to 18 in a four-point loss at Washington on Wednesday in the finale of a five-game trip.
Curry shot 11-for-18 overall and 4-for-9 on 3-point attempts. Oubre and Wiggins added three 3-pointers apiece.
Green chipped in with a game-high 19 assists, tying a career best, and a game-high 12 rebounds for Golden State, which is expected to be without Kent Bazemore and Damion Lee for up to two weeks because of COVID violations.
DISHIN'@Money23Green dropped NINETEEN dimes tonight on #WarriorsGround pic.twitter.com/SUVb5laKql
— Golden State Warriors (@warriors) April 24, 2021
Connecting on 7 of 14 from 3-point range, Porter had a team-high 26 points for the Nuggets, who had a four-game winning streak come to an end.
The loss was just Denver’s third in 14 games since Aaron Gordon joined the lineup following a trade from Orlando. The San Francisco Bay Area native collected 17 points and six rebounds in his homecoming.