Gary Harris scored 28 points, Juancho Hernangomez blocked Damian Jones' last-second layup, and the host Denver Nuggets beat the Golden State Warriors 100-98 on Sunday night.
Nikola Jokic had 23 points and 11 rebounds for Denver, which won despite missing 18 free throws and shooting 6-for-32 from the 3-point arc. The Nuggets lead the Western Conference with a 3-0 record.
Stephen Curry scored 30 points and Kevin Durant had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Warriors, who rallied from 13 down but couldn't force overtime. The defending NBA champions had won their previous two game this season.
With the Nuggets leading 99-98 and 7.7 seconds remaining, Jamal Murray split a pair of free throws to make it a two-point game. Curry raced down the court and fed Jones under the basket, but Hernangomez got the block just before the buzzer to preserve the win for the Nuggets.
Jokic's three-point play with 8:28 left gave Denver an 89-76 lead, its biggest of the game, but Curry heated up quickly to put Golden State back in it. He hit a trio of 3-pointers over the next 1:23 to cut the deficit to four.
Torrey Craig hit a falling-back floater to snap Curry's streak. Golden State chipped away and tied it at 97 on Andre Iguodala's dunk with 1:29 left.
Denver took its first lead since early in the game when Harris put in his own miss to make it 58-57 in the third quarter. His 3-pointer two possessions later started a 15-6 run that put the Nuggets up 73-65. Monte Morris and Hernangomez had 3-pointers in that stretch to spark the run.
Curry hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to five, but Denver scored the last five points on the third to take an 80-70 lead into the final period.
The Warriors led by as many as 12 in the first half when neither team shot well from long range. Curry hit the only two 3-pointers for Golden State, and the Nuggets were 3-for-17 from deep at halftime.
Denver was able to stay close, trailing just 49-47 at intermission despite hitting just three field goals in the first quarter.
--Field Level Media
Golden State | Denver | |
Stephen Curry 30 | Scoring | Gary Harris 28 |
Kevin Durant 7 | Assists | Nikola Jokic 6 |
Kevin Durant 11 | Rebounds | Nikola Jokic 11 |
Kevin Durant 6 | Free Throws Made | Nikola Jokic 9 |
Kevin Durant 1 | Steals | Trey Lyles 3 |
Kevon Looney 2 | Blocks | Torrey Craig 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Golden State | 98 | 45.6 | 7-29 | 19-24 | 22 | 40 | 6 | 4 | 19 |
Denver | 100 | 40.7 | 6-32 | 24-42 | 21 | 47 | 4 | 11 | 10 |