April 17, (THEWILL) – The Golden State Warriors defeated the Denver Nuggets 123-107 in their first-round playoffs since 2019, earning a 1-0 series lead and for the first time in a month, the Warriors welcomed star guard, Stephen Curry, back into their rotation.
However, the returning Curry never had to be a star in his first game back, as the Warriors cruised to win.
Instead, Jordan Poole, a frontrunner to win the Most Improved Player Award this season, rode his explosive second half of the season into his first NBA playoff game. He went 9-for-13 from the field for a game-high 30 points. He made deep threes, completed jumpers at the hoop, and got to the free-throw line.
Poole looked like a rising young star on the national stage once more.
At the start of regulation, both teams traded baskets, with Curry entering the game halfway through the first quarter. Klay Thompson caused the most of the damage for the Warriors early on, scoring nine points in the opening quarter.
The Dubs, on the other hand, shot themselves in the foot with repeated turnovers and trailed 27-26 at the half. The Warriors’ offence tightened up after that. Despite a whirling tornado of passing, they only had 12 turnovers at the end of the game.
Steve Kerr, the head coach of the Golden State Warriors, waited until the final minutes of the second quarter to combine Curry, Poole, and Thompson. They went on an 18-4 run to end the half, giving the Warriors a 58-47 halftime advantage.
Throughout the third quarter, the Warriors maintained a double-digit lead, and when Curry returned to the floor in the last five minutes, the Warriors went on another run. Curry hit his second three of the game, and Golden State led by 20 points after just a few minutes.
Nikola Joki, the Nuggets’ centre, started strong but faded as the game progressed. Against the reigning MVP, the Warriors leaned on Kevon Looney and Draymond Green, rarely double-teaming the Serbian star. Joki received his buckets, but the Nuggets’ offence struggled to get going.
On the other end of the paint, the Dubs were continuously putting Joki in the pick-and-roll, which appeared to exhaust him. Joki finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds, and only 5 assists on 12-of-25 shooting.
The Nuggets never attempted a meaningful fourth-quarter run when Joki cooled off in the second half, and the Warriors coasted to victory. With 3:34 left in regulation, Kerr sent his starters to the bench.
Green arrived looking every inch like the baller Warriors fans had hoped to see. He was outstanding on defence, scoring 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting, grabbing 6 boards, dishing out 9 assists, and blocking 3 shots while without committing a single turnover. He had the best plus/minus (+21) of everyone in the starting lineup.
Curry scored 16 points in 21 minutes on the court. Thompson was 7-for-15 from the field for 19 points (5-for-10 from three). Andrew Wiggins chipped in with 16 points and 9 boards. Otto Porter Jr., Nemanja Bjelica, Gary Payton II, and Andre Iguodala all contributed solidly off the bench, though none of them had particularly impressive boxscore lines.
Both teams will have one day off before the Warriors host Game 2 on Monday, April 18th. The Nuggets will try to reclaim home-court advantage before returning to Colorado, while the Warriors have a chance to extend their series lead to 2-0.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
