The Golden State Warriors hardly expect to fix every flaw in one night.
Beating Denver on Friday in dominant fashion certainly provided a positive first step. The two-time defending champions showed some of that swagger again.
“Pride,” coach Steve Kerr said.
Klay Thompson returned from a two-game absence to score 39 points with nine three-pointers as the Warriors bounced back from their worst loss of the season to beat the Nuggets 122-105 in a matchup of the top two teams in the Western Conference.
Thompson sat out that embarrassing 128-95 home defeat on Tuesday night to the Celtics, the worst at Oracle Arena in Kerr’s five seasons, because of soreness in his right knee.
He scored 27 points in the first half on Friday and wound up nine of 11 from deep.
Having him back meant a lot, and everybody else brought their best, too.
Kevin Durant added 26 points and six assists, while Stephen Curry scored 17 points.
DeMarcus Cousins had a strong outing on both ends with 13 points, six rebounds, six assists, six blocked shots and three steals.
Golden State played with a purpose again, an edge that had not been seen much the past month.
With the Warriors on a two-game home losing streak, they did not let Denver get into the game for any significant stretch — much like a 142-111 road win against the Nuggets in January.
“Our guys have responded for the last five years to bad losses, to lulls, so it didn’t surprise me at all that we came out with energy and passion, and got off to that great start,” Kerr said.
Malik Beasley scored 17 points off the bench for cold-shooting Denver, who lost for the fourth time in five games following a five-game winning streak.
After Golden State’s worst loss of the season overall to Boston and fifth at Oracle by 20 or more points, the Warriors quickly got back to work and players spoke up as they spent the next day at film study and practice re-establishing their goals: Do the little things better. Defend. Hustle. Secure home court for the playoffs.
Draymond Green acknowledged that the team was not competing.
Kerr said that his team needed to play angry.
Curry called for action on the court, enough talking about doing it.
Durant challenged everyone, from the coaches on down, to improve.
The collective effort was clear from the opening tip.
“The last couple days of practice was great for us,” Green said. “You could just kind of sense that everybody was locked in, and there’s still a lot of things we can correct... It was good to kind of feel that energy and focus level from the start of the game.”
“We’re not going to just flip it all around in one night, but this was a great start to getting back on track and playing like ourselves,” Kerr said.
Nikola Jokic had 16 points for the Nuggets, who beat the Lakers in Los Angeles on Wednesday night.
On Friday, Denver’s starters did not get it done, with the Nuggets’ bench outscoring Golden State’s reserves 58-23.
“They’re a better team than we are. If it wasn’t for our bench, we would have gotten completely blown out,” coach Michael Malone said. “Our bench at least kept it respectable.”
In other games on Friday, the Charlotte Hornets edged the Washington Wizards 112-111, the Orlando Magic outlasted the Dallas Mavericks 111-106, the Toronto Raptors crushed the New Orleans Pelicans 127-104 and the Miami Heat overpowered the Cleveland Cavaliers 126-110.
The Houston Rockets pounded the Philadelphia 76ers 107-91, the Detroit Pistons defeated the Chicago Bulls 112-104, the Los Angeles Clippers outlasted the Oklahoma City Thunder 118-110 and the Memphis Grizzlies crushed the Utah Jazz 114-104.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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