Nuggets fall to 1-4 in Preseason; Lose to Warriors 104-101
By Eric Meyer
Oct 16, 2014; Des Moines, IA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) defends Denver Nuggets guard Ty Lawson (3) in the first half at Wells Fargo Arena. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports
The Denver Nuggets continued their preseason schedule with a game against the Golden State Warriors that was played at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines Iowa last night and lost to the Warriors 104-101 to fall to 1-4 on the preseason. The Nuggets played 3 really good quarters and led 85-72 after 3 but took a beating in the 4th as the Warriors outscored the Nuggets 32-16 in the final frame. That may sound very disconcerting to Nuggets fans but take a look at the roster that played the entire 4th quarter for both teams and that may explain the epic collapse. The Nuggets had Erick Green, Quincy Miller, Jusef Nurkic, Gary Harris and Alonzo Gee on the floor while the Warriors played Andre Igoudala, Justin Holiday, James Michael McAdoo, Harrison Barnes and Nemanja Nedovic. Igoudala and Harrison are starters for the Warriors while the Nuggets trotted out at least 3 players who may not even make the final roster.
The Nuggets were led by 18 points from Wilson Chandler and Timofey Mozgov along with 11 each from Kenneth Faried and Arron Afflalo. Green actually played pretty well in his 22 minutes tallying 12 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Marcus Williams also saw 5 minutes of action in the 4th quarter so you can see that winning this game was not a priority of Head Coach Brian Shaw. No starter played more than 27 minutes in the contest and they were all resting comfortably on the bench for the entire 4th quarter. The Warriors were led by 20 points from James Michael McAdoo with 16 of those coming in the 4th quarter. Harrison Barnes, an Iowa native and maybe the best player ever to come out of the state, hit a late jumper to seal the win for the Warriors.
Next up for the Nuggets is a game at 8:30 Saturday against the Los Angeles Clippers. The preseason winds to a merciful close after games against Portland next Wednesday and these same Warriors next Friday.