by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Golden State Warriors Patrick McCaw is defended by the Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray in the second half of Friday night’s contest at Denver

Denver- The Golden State Warriors, playing their fourth game of the pre-season and the first since October 6th, won a thriller beating the Denver Nuggets in Denver Friday night by a score of 129-128.

Warrior rookie, Partick McCaw who was a second-round draft pick, scored eighteen points and saved the Dubs bacon twice. McCaw hit a three-point shot with just one second left in regulation to tie the game at 112 each. McCaw’s performance in overtime was sensational. He single-handedly kept the Warriors from going down to defeat. McCaw hit two three-point shots and a two-pointer in the five-minute OT period. He saved his best shot for last as he hit a running floater at the buzzer to secure the win for the Dubs. The coaches must have been thrilled with his performance, and he appears to be winning a spot on the roster.

The scoring leaders for Golden State were the usual suspects. Steph Curry knocked down twenty-two in twenty-seven minutes of action. Kevin Durant added nineteen and Klay Thompson scored seventeen.  Danilo Gallinari led Denver with nineteen and teammates Jamal Murray and Jamell Stokes contributed sixteen points each in a losing effort.

The game was close all throughout the contest. Golden State led 59-54 at the half. Denver led at the end of three. The Dubs closed to 89-88 with just 39 seconds played in the fourth but Denver pulled away and led by three 112-109 when McCaw came through with the clutch 3-pointer.  The stat sheet shows how close the game was. Virtually every category was even. Golden State shot 45.9% from the floor while Denver’s percentage was 46.3%.The Nuggets had a slight edge in three-point percentage 41.4% to 40.5% Denver snatched 68 rebounds to edge the Dubs 61. Both teams turned the ball over sixteen times.

The Dubs are 3-1 so far in pre-season play. The travel to Las Vegas to square off against the Los Angeles Lakers Saturday night and then play the Lakers again Wednesday night. The Warriors play their final pre-season game on October 21st before opening the season against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday, October 25th at the Oracle Arena.