NBA 2018-19: Denver Nuggets vs Golden State Warriors: 3 Talking Points

FINAL SCORE: Nuggets 100 def Warriors 98

After eking out a 124-123 win against the Utah Jazz, the Warriors were in Denver to take on the Nuggets. The Warriors were yet to lose a game and were up against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets, who are one of the best defensive teams in the league.

The story was similar for Nuggets as they had won their first two games and were undefeated. Nikola Jokic continued his dominance and had a great game, and it went to the wire, but the Warriors could not walk out of the Pepsi Center with a win. For the Warriors, the four All-Stars started along with the young center Damian Jones. He did well in the last two games and was decent this game as he scored 8 points in 20 minutes.

Here are three talking points from the game.

#3 Stephen Curry dazzles with game-high 30 points

Stephen Curry scored over 30 points in the first two games this season. He pushed the streak to three after scoring a game-high 30 points against the Denver Nuggets. Curry started the game with a beautiful pass to Damian Jones. With 3:20 left in the first quarter, he launched one from deep to extend the Warriors' lead to 7.

Later in the second quarter, the unanimous MVP shot a three in the corner and got fouled in the process. He went to the free-throw line and completed a four-point play. However, Curry took a lot of shots (16) from downtown but only made 6 of those, with a 3-point field-goal percentage of 37.5.

Curry finished the game with 30 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists but the Warriors could not get the win at Denver. For the hosts, Nikola Jokic and Gary Harris combined for 51 points on 34 shots.

#2 Klay Thompson's struggle continues

Klay Thompson's struggle shooting the ball continues

Klay Thompson only had 14 points in the season opener against the Thunder. In the recent outing against the Jazz, he scored just 12 points and had a disappointing game. His struggle continued against the Nuggets. He had 15 points on the night but went 1-6 from beyond the arc, and that is definitely a concern for the Warriors.

Thompson opened his account with a jumper from elbow region early in the first quarter. However, he remained cold for the rest of the game barring a dunk in the forth quarter. In the fourth, with close to 5 minutes remaining in the game and down by 6, Thompson had a thunderous dunk after cutting in backdoor.

Klay finished with 15 points on 7-16 shooting. As it is still early in the season, Warriors' team management need not be very bothered about Thompson's form, but it will start to matter when they meet really good defensive teams like the Nuggets.

#1 Juancho Hernangomez's game-saving block on Damian Jones

Hernangomez came up alive with a game-saving block to defeat the Warriors. Credit: Sky Sports

The forward from Spain, Hernangomez is currently in his second year in the NBA. Last season, he averaged 4.9 points after featuring in only 13.6 minutes per game. After a dismal performance in the first two games, Juancho got extended minutes today and played for 23 minutes.

He scored 5 points and pulled down 6 boards. Although the statline looks dull, he definitely had an impact on the game as he came up alive a game-saving block to defeat the Warriors in a very closely fought affair.

Nuggets were up by 2 with 7.7 seconds remaining and Stephen Curry made a beautiful pass to Damian Jones under the basket, but Juancho blocked Jones from behind and the ball popped out of his hands. The crowd erupted at the buzzer as Denver handed Warriors their first defeat of the season.