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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Nikola Jokic insists he won’t change anything during his latest streak of triple-double dominance, just finding the flow of the game as it comes.
Going all out for Denver on both ends once again, Jokic has the defending champions off to a 3-0 start after the All-Star break following a three-game skid just before.
Jokic scored 32 points, 16 rebounds and 16 assists for his third consecutive triple-double and 18th of the season after his long buzzer-beater against Golden State sealed the finale, leading the Nuggets past the Warriors again in a 119-103 victory on Sunday. evening.
“We had three losses before the All-Star break and now we have three wins. That’s the game, a racing game. In the season you have a good period, a bad period, you want to have a longer good period than the bad period and a short bad period,” Jokic said. “I think we are going in the right direction. That’s the most important thing.”
Jokic hit a Stephen Curry-like 40-footer as Denver rallied to win 130-127 at Chase Center on Jan. 4, then outlasted Curry and company to sweep the four-game season series. On Sunday, Jokic was 13-for-24 en route to his 122nd career triple-double in the regular season.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone is delighted with his team’s approach as the regular season comes to a close, and sweeping the Warriors in four games this season certainly makes a statement. This was the 10th time a Golden State opponent won after trailing by double digits.
“For the first quarter and a half I felt like they were the aggressors, they had us on our heels and we were reacting to everything they did,” Malone said. “To close 14-0 and then start the third 14-4, I think we kind of flipped the switch and became aggressors on both sides and stopped thinking and started playing with an attacking mentality and an aggressive mentality. and I think that’s when we’re at our best.”
Klay Thompson scored 23 points in the first half and Curry overcame a slow start by missing his first seven 3-point attempts before finishing with 20 points, all but four scored in the second half. He hit his only 3-pointer with 3:26 left in the third in a 1-for-10 performance from deep. The two-time MVP passed Dwyane Wade (23,165) for 32nd place and Adrian Dantley (23,177) for 31st place on the NBA scoring list.
Jamal Murray scored 27 points and Aaron Gordon 17 in the Nuggets’ seventh straight win against the Warriors and their 10th in 11 and also their fifth straight on Golden State’s court since a 113-102 loss on March 10, 2022.
The last opponent to beat the Warriors seven or more times in a row was the Grizzlies, 11 times in a row between November 2010 and November 2013.
Down 65-61 after a Curry layup at the 10:30 mark of the third, the Nuggets responded with another 14-0 burst to take a 75-65 lead. Jokic scored consecutive layups before Murray scored five in a row. They also finished the first half on a 14-0 run in the final 2:47 to tie the game at 61 before intermission.
“I thought we had two or three offensive possessions where we didn’t get organized and stagnated,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “And that hurt our flow. We had a good rhythm until then and the rhythm went down. So we needed to organize ourselves better offensively. And then they made some tough shots.”
Thompson made 5 of his 7 initial shots and 4 of 6 three-pointers and scored 23 points at halftime on 7 of 12 shooting. He received a warm ovation when he sat down to take a breather with 4:51 left in the second quarter.
Jonathan Kuminga scored 19 points and Andrew Wiggins made his first four shots to make it 14 for Golden State, which had won three straight and 10 of 12.
“Winning here after how well they’ve been playing lately is a good win for us,” Jokic said.
Draymond Green had seven points, five rebounds and four assists in his first matchup against Denver this season after missing the previous three, two of them while serving separate suspensions and the first on Nov. 8 for personal reasons.
Kevon Looney played his 284th consecutive game in both the regular season and playoffs, tying Neil Johnston for the fifth-longest streak in franchise history.
UNTIL NEXT TIME
Nuggets: Host the Kings on Wednesday night after losing the previous three meetings this season, including by 29 points at Sacramento on Feb. 9 before a 102-98 loss at Denver on Feb. 14.
Warriors: At Washington on Tuesday night to begin a four-game trip up the East Coast.
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NBA AP: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
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