DENVER – Draymond Green takes defense personally. It’s his pride and joy, an extension of his growing family.
In a second straight loss without Steph Curry, Green was the Warriors’ best offense in an ugly trouncing from the Denver Nuggets, 129-104, Friday night at Ball Arena.
Green led the Warriors with 17 points and made five 3-pointers, two fewer than the rest of his teammates combined. That was long forgotten, watching how the Nuggets scored with ease against the Warriors.
The only finger Green pointed regarding the Warriors’ defensive letdowns was at himself.
“I’ve failed,” Green said. “If our defense looks as s—-y as it does, I’ve failed. You can send as many messages as you want. Until we do it, I’m failing them.”
The Warriors opened the game with a corner three from Green and then forced the Nuggets into a shot clock violation. It was almost all Nuggets the rest of the way. They responded with an immediate 12-0 run, forcing a Golden State timeout.
Any fire the Warriors came into the game with was quickly extinguished. They trailed by as many as 14 points in the first quarter, 19 in the second, 22 in the third and 28 in the fourth before an eventual 25-point loss.
Aside from the Warriors starting the second quarter on a 10-0 run to bring the game within one while Nikola Jokić was given his first rest, the Nuggets had almost no problems slicing and dicing a leaky defense. The game became a breeze for Jokić, scoring 26 points on 12-of-15 shooting and 2 of 3 from deep. Even his backup, Jonas Valančiūnas, scored 16 points in 16 minutes, going 6 of 8 from the field and 2 of 3 on threes.
Jamal Murray’s 23 points came on 8-of-12 shooting and 5 of 7 from three, and Aaron Gordon got up to 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting and was 3 of 4 behind the 3-point line.
The Nuggets scored at least 30 points in all four quarters, finishing the game with a 56.1 field goal percentage and went 48.5 percent beyond the arc. They dominated around the rim and downtown. Trailing from behind for almost all 48 minutes, the Warriors were called for three more fouls than the Nuggets and saw them take 10 more free throws than them.
“No. 1, it’s taking the challenge – a personal challenge,” Green said of the Warriors’ defense. “You’ve got to take the personal challenge to guard your man. Then if you get beat, there’s help. But I think right now we’re just relying on the help to beat everyone. When you don’t give effort, then help can’t get there.
“It starts individually. Everybody must take the challenge individually of guarding their man, and then you build out from there.”
Clearly, the Warriors have a point-of-attack problem. They’ve seen young players trying to make a name for themself like Ryan Rollins and Quenton Jackson drive downhill right past them in losses, and most recently, a contender in the Nuggets pick them apart without breaking a sweat. They can get back to the drawing board, but it all starts up top.
Coach Steve Kerr sent a strong statement to his younger players, calling out a lack of purpose and hanging their heads as the problems piled up on them. Green didn’t mince his words, and neither did fellow veteran leader Jimmy Butler. Trayce Jackson-Davis and Quinten Post, a third-year center and a second-year center, respectively, took it upon themselves to follow the words of the team’s leaders.
“There were multiple guys that came from the bench tonight that were talking about bringing the energy, and sometimes it’s tough,” Post said. “It doesn’t go your way, but the guys are in the right mindset, and this switch will be flipped. We’ll flip the switch. We got to keep bringing it, the fire, and just go out there and we’ll make it work.”
The schedule has been a battle of its own, mentally and physically. The Warriors already have played 10 games in 18 days, including three back-to-back. And it’s not about to get any easier.
After a flight home and a day off Saturday, the Warriors play the Indiana Pacers at Chase Center on Sunday, and then they hit the road for a six-game trip that opens with a back-to-back in Oklahoma City and San Antonio.
“I mean, hell, every game up to this point is supposed to be one to set the tone,” Butler said. “Now what I will say is – and I say this a lot – when you win, everything’s masked and everything is covered up. So if we go out there and win, it’s going to look like we played hard, it’s going to look like we executed.
“Let’s just win, and then we’ll take it from there. Let’s learn from wins instead of from losses.”
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