Curry, Warriors top Nuggets to stay unbeaten

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[November 07, 2015]  OAKLAND, Calif. -- Stephen Curry continued knocking down 3-point shots at a torrid pace, and the Golden States Warriors remained the NBA's only undefeated team, beating the Denver Nuggets 119-104 on Friday night at Oracle Arena.

Curry scored 34 points, going 8-for-16 from long range. He has made 36 3-point shots on 70 attempts -- both league highs -- and is on pace to crush his NBA record of 272 3-pointers set last year.

"What he does is incredible," Warriors interim coach Luke Walton said. "The range, off the dribble. The bigger the moment it seems like the more often they go in as well. So I think he's kind of setting the new standard of being the greatest shooter this league has ever seen."

The Warriors point guard added 10 assists for his first double-double of the season. He also had five rebounds.

Curry entered the game averaging an NBA high 35.8 points per game and cracked the 30-point mark for a career-high fourth straight time and fifth time in six games.

Curry is shooting .514 from long range, and he said he'll keep launching 3's as long as he's making them at that clip.
 


"I've always believed three is better than two," Curry said. "So if I can knock them down I'm sure it will help our team open up games. It's kind of deflating for a defense. I know it is for us when a guy gets hot on the other side."

The defending NBA champion Warriors improved to 6-0, their best start since moving to the West Coast from Philadelphia. They won their 22nd consecutive home game, an ongoing franchise record.

All five Warriors starters scored in double figures. Forward Harrison Barnes scored 21 points, guard Klay Thompson 18, center Festus Ezeli a career-high 16 and forward Draymond Green 12 to go with nine rebounds and eight assists.

The Warriors had a team record 28 assists on 30 field goals in the first half. They had 40 assists for the game.

"That's when we're at our best," Thompson said of the first half assist total. "When we just make the simple play, share the ball, we're almost unbeatable, especially when our defense is locked in."

Forward Danilo Gallinari scored a season-high 25 points for the Nuggets (2-4). Forward Will Barton scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Guard Gary Harris scored 16 points, rookie guard Emmanuel Mudiay 13 and guard Jameer Nelson 10.

Denver cut Golden State's 30-point halftime lead to 16 points at 87-71 with 3:42 left in the third quarter. But Curry outscored the Nuggets 12-2 over the remainder of the period, and the Warriors took a 99-75 lead into the fourth.

"I told our guys at halftime, 'Listen, don't even worry about the scoreboard,'" Denver coach Michael Malone said. "'Don't worry about winning and losing. Our goal was to come out and win the second half, win the third quarter, win the fourth quarter.

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"The effort, the way we played in the first half, yes, they are a great team, but we came out and just let them do whatever they wanted."

The Nuggets refused to fold in the fourth quarter. They cut Golden State's lead to 104-91 with 7:06 left to play and trailed 107-94 with 5:32 remaining.

Thompson drilled a 3-point shot, and Barnes hit a jumper, increasing Golden State's lead to 112-94 with 4:53 left. Nelson then scored eight straight points for Denver, drilling a pair of shots from long range, making it 112-102 with 3:55 to play. That's as close as the Nuggets got.

"Effort and energy, those two things I think were the difference between the first half and second half," Gallinari said. "We need to do it for 48 minutes game in and game out."

The Warriors dominated the Nuggets from the outset. They bolted to a 14-4 lead, stretched their advantage to 40-23 at the end of the first quarter and led 74-44 at halftime.

Curry had 20 points in the first half and was one of four Warriors in double figures. Thompson had 15 points, Barnes 12 and Ezeli 10 by halftime.

NOTES: Warriors starting C Andrew Bogut (concussion) missed his fifth straight game, but might return as early as Saturday against Sacramento, interim coach Luke Walton said. Bogut went through an entire shoot-around Friday for the first time since being injured. "There's still the contact part of the (concussion) test he said he hasn't done," Walton said. "From my understanding, if he's feeling good the rest of today that he could do some contact stuff tomorrow and then either play tomorrow night or Monday." ... Nuggets starting C Joffrey Lauvergne (lower back strain) missed his third straight game, but coach Michael Malone said he's hopeful that he'll return to the lineup in Denver's next game on Monday against Portland.

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