National Basketball Association
Golden State 118, Denver 97
When: 10:00 PM ET, Friday, April 23, 2021
Where: Chase Center, San Francisco, California
Officials: #15 Zach Zarba, #51 Aaron Smith, #18 Matt Boland
Attendance: 1935

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.

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.

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.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Denver   Golden State
Michael Porter Jr. 26 Scoring Stephen Curry 32
Nikola Jokic 6 Assists Draymond Green 19
Paul Millsap 7 Rebounds Draymond Green 12
Nikola Jokic 5 Free Throws Made Stephen Curry 6
PJ Dozier 3 Steals Kelly Oubre Jr. 3
Paul Millsap 2 Blocks Kelly Oubre Jr. 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Denver 97 38.6 13-46 16-20 26 36 7 9 9
Golden State 118 53.6 15-39 13-18 40 52 4 8 15
Upcoming Games
  • Golden State will play their next game at home against Sacramento. The Warriors have a W/L % of .433 after a win and .567 after a loss.
  • Denver will play their next game at home against Houston. The Nuggets have a W/L % of .615 after a win and .700 after a loss.