Nuggets stay perfect, send Warriors to first loss

LOS ANGELES, USA – Juancho Hernangomez came up with the game-saving block Sunday, October 21, as the Denver Nuggets held off the two-time defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors 100-98 in a thriller in Denver.

The unbeaten Nuggets handed the Warriors their first defeat of the young season, staking their claim to contender status in the powerful Western Conference.

Denver led by as many as 11 points in the 4th quarter, but the Warriors, led by 30 points from Stephen Curry, whittled the deficit and knotted the score at 97-all with 1:29 remaining.

Three missed free throws by the Nuggets in the final 1:18 opened the door for the Warriors, but the visitors couldn’t take advantage.

Draymond Green had a chance to tie the game when he missed one of two free throws with 10 seconds remaining and the Warriors trailed by two on their final possession.

Curry drove to the rim, drawing two defenders, and passed to Damian Jones.

As Jones rose for the shot, Hernangomez dove in to bat the ball away from behind.

At 3-0, the Nuggets are off to their best start since opening 5-0 in 2009.

A day after his impressive triple-double against Phoenix, Nikola Jokic scored 23 points with 11 rebounds and 6 assists.

Nikola Jokic has averaged 26.3 PPG, 10.3 RPG & 7.3 APG in the @nuggets‘ 3-0 start. Two others in @NBAHistory have averaged 25 PPG/10 RPG/7 APG in a 3-0 start:

Larry Bird (1984-85, 1986-87)
Russell Westbrook (2016-17)#MileHighBasketball @EliasSports pic.twitter.com/xyAUVkQg1n

— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) October 22, 2018

Gary Harris added 28 points and the Nuggets forced 18 turnovers in a solid defensive effort against the prolific Warriors.

Golden State led by as many as 12 in the 1st quarter, and by 2 points at halftime, but were outscored 33-21 in the 3rd period. – Rappler.com