After defeating the team that won the NBA championship last season, the Denver Nuggets thought they had an easier time against the one who lost in the Tuesday night final.
But not so fast.
After Sunday’s 133-118 win against the Toronto Raptors on a shorthanded finish, the Nuggets welcome the Golden State Warriors, the owners of the NBA’s worst record. But a day before the scheduled game, the Warriors recalled goalkeeper Stephen Curry of their G League affiliate in Santa Cruz, California on Monday, just hours after he sent him there to train.
At the moment, there is no timetable as to when the most useful NBA double player will actually play his first game for Golden State since he broke his left hand on October 30.
The Warriors announced on Saturday that the quadruple All-Star and triple NBA champion “will stay on time for a return to the game at some point in March”. Curry, who turns 32 on March 14, has averaged 20.3 points, 6.5 assists and 5.0 rebounds in four games this season before the injury.
“It will make a big difference, especially for people who can drive and attack the basket, because Steph attracts a lot of attention,” Andrew Wiggins told reporters recently.
Even though Curry is unable to leave on Tuesday, the Warriors don’t seem like a gateway to Denver.
The Nuggets have had a penchant for giving up on inferior teams this season, including home losses against Atlanta and Cleveland and road losses against Detroit and Washington. This habit was also apparent on January 16, when the Warriors took the Nuggets in overtime before falling to San Francisco.
A win that night would have been rare in what has been a long period of Golden State futility. The Warriors have lost 24 of their last 28 games, including separate streaks of eight and 10 games. They just lost a 124-110 loss to the Washington Wizards on Sunday night in the game the team originally hoped to mark Curry’s comeback.
Denver probably doesn’t care about Curry’s delayed return. The Nuggets are locked in a battle with the Los Angeles Clippers and the Houston Rockets for second place in the conference. The Clippers routed Denver on Friday night, but the Nuggets rebounded against Toronto on Sunday night, getting another triple-double from Nikola Jokic, his 12th this season.
Denver played without striker Paul Millsap due to a sprained right ankle suffered during Friday’s game. The Nuggets did not train on Monday and there was no status update on Tuesday.
Other than Millsap, Denver is in good health and has apparently received a wake-up call from defeat in Los Angeles. 118 victory over Toronto.
“It’s part of the game,” said Nuggets forward Torrey Craig on Sunday night. “There are games when you lose. There will be tough losses, there will be emotional losses, but it’s part of the game in the NBA. You have to learn from the last game and I think that’s what we have try to do.”
No player rebounded better than Gary Harris, who got 6 for 7 on the field (3 for 3 on 3 points) for 15 points against the Raptors after shooting just 31.3% in February.
– Media at field level