Recap of Warriors-Nuggets

When you play the Golden State Warriors, you always have to think on your shoes. You have to try to stop them and you have to try to separate past from reality. The reality hit the Denver Nuggets big time on Saturday night, and especially in that third quarter against the Warriors.

 The Nuggets ended up losing the game 127-108 to the Warriors on Saturday at the Pepsi Center, and it was highlights by two very different teams that the Nuggets put on the floor. The Nuggets were down but a deficit that we've expected from a lot of teams lately. They always came back and they always hung in there. But there was one case of disaster that haunted the Nuggets on Thursday night, and it was their defensive play and their terrible offensive prowess, particularly in that third quarter, which was the deciding quarter that sealed the win for the Warriors.

Nuggets coach Mike Malone put the blame on the games they've had to play on many nights, saying, "Obviously, this was our sixth game in nine nights...That's part of the NBA. We can't use that as an excuse, but that definitely played into it, I believe."

Six games in nine nights is nothing new and many superstar players like LeBron James and Stephen Curry have advocated for longer seasons and more rest between games. But you can't change everything, and in this particular case, the Nuggets were the victims of a weary team that was trying to keep up with a dominating Warriors team that had their way.

Now for the third quarter, the Nuggets were down by five points, which could've been a good deficit to try to get back into it. But coming out of that halftime, Golden State was on it. They went on a 27-6 run that pushed the lead to well over 20 points, thanks in part to the big quarter numbers put up by Curry. He had 12 points in that period and had three 3-pointers to go along with it.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr said about that period, "We came out firing in the third." And they did. They came out firing, they took the third quarter by storm, and the Nuggets could never keep up at that point. You could bet it was going to be a long second half for them.

With the loss, the Nuggets' winning streak of two games was snapped. Yeah, it's not much, but it's the Nuggets, who are looking for anything to try to get their winning ways going again after a couple years of being out. The Nuggets benefited, though from Will Barton's 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Muddily also finished with 15 points, seven assists and five rebounds, and Trey Lyles scored 11 points.

For the Warriors, they finished on the night with Kevin Durant's 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Curry also finished with 22 points and 11 assists.

Some would say this is an ugly loss and while it may have been true in the third quarter, the fact of the matter is, when the Warriors stars are on the floor, it's hard to guard them and to prevent them from scoring points. It's just that hard, and the Nuggets learned that tonight. Yes, they've had the Warriors' number in Denver in recent years, but that was a few times when most of the Warriors stars were not out there. This time, they were, and Denver was clearly outmatched in this game, especially in that third quarter.

The Nuggets should not take this as a bad taste. It was an expected loss. The third quarter might not have gone the way they expected, but it's an expected loss, and they'll recover from this and get better. The Warriors are the best team. Even a rebuilding team like the Nuggets are not exactly on the level of the Warriors stars to beat them yet.