The is the number 3 seed Golden State Warriors comfortably won No. 6 Denver Nuggets Saturday night at the Chase Center like Jordan Pool scored 30 points in his postseason debut.
Stephen Curry came off the bench for Golden State and went 0-for-5 off the field before getting his first bucket in the closing minutes of the second quarter. By that point, the Warriors were already leading with 11, and with Curry’s trio, the Dubs ended the first half 18–4 with 11 points.
Warriors lead by 20 points by the start of the fourth quarter
In the third frame, the Warriors led the Nuggets by nine points to take a 20-point lead in the final stanza. Pool continued his scoring attack and finished the game with 5 of 7 shots from behind the arc and overall 9 of 13 from the floor.
Nuggets head coach Michael Malone finally gave up the white flag and vacated his bench with just over three minutes left in the game. Nikola Djokic finished the night with 25 points and 10 rebounds, and Will Barton added 24 points.
While only two other Nuggets have reached double figures, five Warriors have scored over 10 points. In fact, of the 14 Golden State players who received minutes in Game 1, only Andrew Iguodala failed to get the bucket.
Curry likely to start game two
Curry played his first game since his injury at the end of the season. He missed 12 games and had to get rid of the rust, but ended up with 16 points. Clay Thompson added 19 with five stamps from the depth.
Andrew Wiggins also scored 16 and Draymond Green scored 12 with a pair of flashy dunks and a 3-pointer. Game 2 of the first round of the NBA Playoffs is scheduled for Monday, April 18 at 7:00 pm PT at the Chase Center, and Curry is likely to get a head start in that competition.