The luck of the Irish was with Michael Malone.
Wearing a green quarter-zip for St. Patrick’s Day adorned with the Nuggets’ vintage Maxie the Miner logo, Malone rolled out a doozy of a lineup in San Francisco. He might as well have been rolling a pair of dice.
He rolled boxcars.
With no Nikola Jokic, no Jamal Murray and no Christian Braun, Denver bounced back from one of its worst losses of the season with arguably its best win — a wire-to-wire 114-105 triumph over red-hot Golden State. The Nuggets have now won nine consecutive head-to-head meetings with the Warriors, who entered this game 14-2 since trading for Jimmy Butler.
First option Aaron Gordon
Gordon may have transformed his game to fit alongside Jokic after Denver traded for him in 2021, but it still helps to have a player who has been a first option in his career.
Aaron Gordon stepped up in his home state Monday, scoring 38 points to lead the Nuggets. He set the tone by tallying the first five points with a bucket inside the arc and a pull-up 3-pointer. His perimeter shooting has been a stunning revelation all season. He’s 45% beyond the arc after shooting 29% last year, making his shots from everywhere on the court and in a variety of ways — off the dribble and the catch.
Hustle transcends sloppiness
The Nuggets did not play anything close to a perfect game, which was to be expected under the circumstances. They turned it over 20 times, a few real head-scratchers among them. They had some inadequate free-throw box-outs. They missed some layups and air-balled quite a few jumpers.
Needless to say, their performance was not pretty.
But it was gutsy enough to overcome the errors. They also secured 18 offensive rebounds. After the lead was cut to 99-94 with six minutes to go, Vlatko Cancar, who had struggled to protect the ball against Golden State’s pressure, wrestled a clutch offensive board and put-back. He finished with eight rebounds. Gordon bullied his way inside and retrieved his own miss in traffic for another bucket the next possession.
Peyton Watson guarded Steph Curry admirably and blocked four shots, including one from behind with four minutes left. Hunter Tyson made his first career start and impacted the game with hustle plays and intangibles. He finished with nine points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. Two-way forward Spencer Jones battled with Draymondian physicality in a game that often resembled rugby more than basketball.
Russ gets his 203rd
Nobody embodied Denver’s grit despite messy execution quite like Russell Westbrook, who was unfazed by a 5-for-17 shooting game and two air-balls in the fourth quarter while posting his 203rd career triple-double: 12 points, 11 rebounds and 16 assists. He was at his absolute best as a passer, even if that meant forcing some unnecessary risks in a seven-turnover night. He tried to take a charge on Curry late in the game. He added three steals and two blocks.
And he kept on shooting through the ugly misses, knocking down a dagger 3-pointer from the left wing with a hand in his face. It gave the Nuggets a 106-96 edge with 4:10 left.
Naturally, the depleted Nuggets needed a little help to pull this off, and Golden State obliged with one of the worst-played basketball games of the entire NBA season. Curry had 20 points on 6-of-21 shooting with seven turnovers, capped by an ill-advised lob out of bounds late in the game. The Warriors shot 24% from 3-point range and 15 for 27 at the foul line. They committed 20 turnovers as a team.
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