DENVER — The Warriors snapped a five-game win streak with a Christmas loss, 120-114, to the Denver Nuggets on Monday afternoon at Ball Arena. The Warriors move to 15-15.
Golden State kept pace with Denver throughout, but they couldn’t overcome a slow scoring day from Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. Curry had 18 points shooting an uncharacteristically inefficient 7-for-21 from the field. Thompson had nine points, snapping his five-game streak with at least 20 points, shooting 3-of-12 from the field.
Andrew Wiggins returned from an illness that sidelined him for two games with a team-high 22 points off the bench. Brandin Podziemski kept them afloat with a season-high five steals, nine rebounds and six assists along with 13 points.
Bottled up by Denver’s double-team, Curry turned in a slow first half going 1-for-5 with four points, matching Nuggets MVP Nikola Jokic’s slow start (1-for-5 with six points). The Warriors bench picked up the slack, outscoring the Nuggets young bench 28-8. But the Nuggets won the free-throw battle with Jokic scoring 18 of his 26 points from the line.
The Warriors return to San Francisco for an extended home stand, taking on the Miami Heat on Thursday, Dallas Mavericks on Saturday and Orlando Magic at the start of the new year.