The Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) drives on the Golden State Warriors forward Trayce Jackson-Davis in the first half at Ball Center in Denver on Wed Nov 8, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

Despite a slow start, the Golden State Warriors (6-3) kept the Denver Nuggets (8-1) on the ropes in the second half of Wednesday nights game. This game show-cased excellent defense from both teams but it was the Nuggets that prevailed 108-105.

Wednesday night the Warriors faced their biggest challenge of the season taking on the defending champion Nuggets at Ball Arena. The Nuggets have only lost one game this season a matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves 110-89. Nikola Jokic has had the high score in every game so far this season and so he was the man the Warriors tried to contain in this matchup.

He has had an amazing 108 triple doubles in his career and he kept Golden State busy. The Warriors got Andrew Wiggins involved in the game while guard Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson got a fast start having plenty on their plates besides Jokic.

Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr. and Reggie Jackson rounded out a terrific bunch of starters for Denver. Golden State missed their best defensive player Draymond Green who was out for this game due to personal reasons. Gary Payton II was also out due to illness which is another tough loss since he has had some success guarding Jokic.

Game recap: This game did not go as planned; it was not the way that Golden State wanted to start. They had three early turnovers and as the first quarter began to wind down the Nuggets already had 12 points off Warrior turnovers.

The Warriors missed their first seven three’s and it was Moses Moody that hit one on the eighth attempt. After the first 12 minutes, Curry had not scored but it was Moody and Kevon Looney that had kept this game close. Despite everything that had gone wrong, the Warriors only trailed by five points 26-21. They were doing a great job keeping this game close.

The second quarter saw a momentum change in favor of Golden State. Three minutes into the quarter the Warriors had pulled to within two points after trailing by as much as 12 points in the first quarter.

At 6:16 Curry hit his first three of the night. The Warriors had held Denver to 38% shooting, a feat in itself against the number one shooting team in the NBA. Golden State was having a great defensive game.

With 1:40 left in the half, the Nuggets had their first turnover, a Jokic travel. The Nuggets won the second quarter 27-26 and took a 53-47 lead into the locker room at the half. Golden State finished the first half with seven turnovers and had yet to find a single player in double digits.

The Nugget’s Jokic, Porter Jr and Jackson all had double digits yet the Warriors only trailed by 6 six points which was a win in itself. So far in the first two quarters, Wiggins had only come up with 2 points.

Bench player Moody made a huge impact in this game scoring ten points in eight minutes. The Warrior reserves were keeping Golden State in this game and with the third quarter winding down, the Warriors had tied up this game numerous times.

With 28 seconds left in the quarter Golden State had taken the lead 78-76. Through three quarter, Curry and Klay Thompson had carried the offensive load in the game. With one quarter to go could the Warriors hang on and hand the Nuggets their first home loss of the season?

The fourth quarter could not have been tighter with the lead swinging back and forth sprinkled with a number of ties. The Warriors bench had dominated the Denver reserves and they were a huge part of any success Golden State was having.

With 14.7 ticks left on the clock Golden State was trailing by two points 107-105 and ball possession. Take the three or try to tie? The Warriors chose the later and failed giving the Nuggets the 108-105 win going undefeated at home.

Curry finished the game with 23 points, five rebounds and Thompson had 15 points and six rebounds. The Warriors bench completely outplayed the Nugget reserves 42 to 12. Both teams played excellent defense and this game could have gone either way.

The Warriors will now head home to Chase for a six-game home-stand. They will have two day off after a most grueling road trip. First up for Golden State will be the Cleveland Cavaliers who beat Golden State last Sunday 115-104. The Warriors will be looking to even things up this Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 PM.