The aftermath of the champion Denver Nuggets winning their 7th straight against Warriors
The aftermath of the champion Denver Nuggets winning their 7th straight against Warriors
Do they just have Golden State's number now?
I had to really sit on my thoughts after the Denver Nuggets completed a season sweep of the Golden State Warriors last night.
Since the Warriors swept the Jamal Murray-less Nuggets out of the first round of the 2022 playoffs (gentemanly of course), Denver has been something of a juggernaut. They won the 2023 title, the season after the Dubs did, and have been stacking L’s on Golden State since. Denver has won seven straight against the Warriors, with the most recent one a 119-103 whupping that came after Golden State held a 16-point lead!
This was the kinda victory that puts major doubts into Golden State’s championship contender credibility, while simultaneously demonstrating just how versatile the Nuggets roster is.
I remember back in 2019 when the Dubs had Kevin Durant and the Nuggets were trying to get the early days of their Nikola Jokic mojo going, the Warriors beat the hell out of them 142-111 in a destruction that showed there were levels to Western Conference contention.
The Nuggets just ran into the best team in the NBA who played at a historic level tonight. No one can beat the Warriors when they shoot over 50% from three, have three guys combine for 90 points and finish with nearly 40 assists. The Nuggets are still a good team having a great season, and no matter what any local or national media member says that hasn’t changed.
What has changed is this: the Nuggets’ honeymoon period this season is over. The Warriors came in and sent a message loud and clear to the that there is still a long way to go before Denver can truly be given the respect they and all of us fans were seeking. That’s perfectly okay. It’s part of the growing pains that will help the Nuggets develop from a good to a great team.
Now that Jokic is at the peak of his powers and the Warriors are struggling at the bottom of the play-in standings, the tables appear to have turned on the Bay Area’s dynasty.
If these two teams meet in the playoffs, the Warriors will have their hands completely full. But that’s the best part of measuring yourself agains the champs, amirite? #WeBelieveReborn
Based purely on gut feel from watching the games over the past few seasons, I think the addition of Aaron Gordon was the key piece that makes Denver a bad matchup for the Warriors. Without Murray in '21-'22, the Warriors were able to compensate, but with Jamal back it seems like Gordon is the X-Factor who gets the key rebound or putback for the Nuggets. We don't really have an effective defensive answer for him while still accounting for Jokic, MPJ, and Murray. He can also somewhat neutralize rim drivers while we are on offense and covers for some of Jokic's deficiencies on that end. No idea what our answer would be, but he's likely not on the team yet.
I felt like the warriors were outclassed after the euphoria of Their 16 point lead quickly disappeared by halftime. In retrospect although part of curry’s deficiency was Denver defense he also had a bad night and if he was in it would have been competitive. A lot of teams are much better and the warriors size may matter more than previous years but don’t count them out yet- and I mean for the championship