After the Denver Nuggets defeated the Portland Trail Blazers by 54 points last Friday, the team would be unable to muster a 128-117 win over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday. As there is some concern for the Nuggets following their loss to the understaffed Warriors, head coach David Edelman will point to an interesting aspect of the opponent's injury report.
Just before tip-off, which was at 12:30 p.m. local time, Golden State announced that Green was a late scratch due to lower back tightness. This prompted the Warriors to go with Al Horford, who scored 22 points in his highest-scoring game as a team member, leading Edelman to admit how "confused" it was to see a late injury to Green.
“That was confusing,” Edelman said, via ESPN. "I think that's why we report the injury. Obviously, the game plan was very different."
The loss was a painful one for Denver, as they were missing Jimmy Butler, Stephen Curry, who is still out, Golden State's top four players, Kristaps Porzingis and Green due to a season-ending injury. Although this was Denver's third road game in four days after the All-Star break, it can't be denied that the team won't use this as an excuse.
What Warriors had on Nuggets to Nikola Jokic became real
Jokic, who himself is recovering from injury, had a great game where he recorded 35 points, 20 rebounds, 12 assists, three steals and two blocks. However he also acknowledged, via Sports Illustrated, that Golden State had "better energy".
"They had better energy, and since I (dunked in the fourth quarter), I think the score was tied, I missed a three, they made a three, I had a turnover, they made like a six, went on a 7-0 quick run, and they were up 13, 11 or whatever. So we couldn't really find an open shot; they were finding open shots, they were making like they made the whole game," Jocic said.
At any rate, Denver will look to bounce back in its next game on Wednesday night against the Boston Celtics.
