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The Golden State Warriors have just levelled their first round series against the Nuggets at 1-1 by beating them 131-117. Here are 8 takeaways from this game -
Thwarted at home
Defeating the Nuggets at home is no mean feat. They only lost at home 3 times through the entire season. It is as much a testament to their excellent play as it is about the climate at the Mile-High City. It takes at least three days to adjust to the climate at Denver, and the Warriors were here for game 1 a few days ago. They may have even taken game 1 had it not been for Andre Miller dropping 18 points on them in the fourth.
Big man out, big man in
Tragically, the Warriors lost David Lee for the playoffs during game 1 because of a torn hip flexor. “We’re not going to panic,” Jackson said. “We thought we were good enough to win Game 1. They made plays, they made the biggest play.” The Warriors did not panic and ended up with the win. On the other hand, the Nuggets got back Kenneth Faried who was out for game 1. Faried had 4 points and 2 rebounds and was clearly limited by his ankle.
Got Curry?
Steph Curry flipped the script today, scoring early and making plays for his teammates in the fourth. Curry had 17 in the first half alone and propelled the Warriors to a 61-53 lead at the half. He finished with 30 points, 13 assists and 5 rebounds. He made up for his poor play in game 1 when he missed his first 9 shots and went 7-20 from the field. “Hopefully, that rhythm I built in the second half will build for the rest of the series,” Curry said later of having 15 points in the second half of game 1. “I’m not worried about that cold start coming back any time soon.” He didn’t have cause with his excellent play today. There was cause for worry when Curry went down after rolling his ankle in the third quarter, but he bounced right back.
Battle of the boards
The Warriors played with energy and outrebounded the Nuggets 36-26. Seven of the Warriors had 3 rebounds or more. Only four players for the Nuggets had 3 or more boards.
Balanced scoring for the Nuggets
The Nuggets got double figure production from six players. Iguodala had 18, Chandler added 14, Lawson had 19 with 12 assists, Brewer had 19, Miller had 18 and Randolph added 14.
Explosive scoring for Warriors
Four of the Warriors finished in double figures and all of them scored more than 20 points each. Barnes had 24, Jack started and had 26, Thompson had 21 and Curry led them all with 30.
Dead eye shooting
The Warriors shot a whooping 64% from the field. They went 56% from three point range, led by Thompson going 5-6 from downtown. The Nuggets only shot 50% from the field and 34% from beyond the arc.
Jacked in
Coach Mark Jackson opted for a small line-up as he went with Jack in the starting line-up. “I’m a Jack-of-all-trades kind of guy. Power forward is definitely in my repertoire. I don’t know what took (coach) so long to put me down here in the first place. If he calls on me to do it, I’ll be ready,” Jack said earlier.
The Warriors will host the next game. Game 3 is on 27th April at 8 AM IST.
Guess the Lakers players!
