Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals.
A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup.
The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game.
Photo: AP
The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points to three, but Denver pulled away in the closing stages to secure a deserved win.
Gordon finished with 38 points, six rebounds and three assists, while Michael Porter Jr provided offensive support with 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
The Warriors were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts.
Jimmy Butler led the Golden State scorers with 23 points.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr lambasted his side’s “awful” performance.
“We played poorly out of the gate and never found rhythm, and they played great,” Kerr said. “The right team won. We didn’t deserve that. We were awful.”
Denver improved to 44-25 to remain in third place in the West. The Warriors dropped to 39-29 and are sixth.
The Los Angeles Lakers are just behind Denver in fourth place in the West after a 125-109 blowout over the San Antonio Spurs.
With LeBron James still injured, Austin Reaves led the Lakers scoring with 30 points, while Luka Doncic had 21 points with nine rebounds and 14 assists.
The in-form Houston Rockets staged an incredible second-half comeback to defeat the Philadelphia 76ers, overturning a 25-point third-quarter deficit to win 144-137 in an overtime thriller.
The struggling Sixers — who received another gloomy injury bulletin with news that Paul George would miss the remainder of the regular season — stunned Houston after outscoring the hosts 44-28 in the first quarter.
After leading 78-57 at halftime, the Sixers stretched their advantage to 25 points early in the third quarter, but Jalen Green and Dillon Brooks led a dramatic turnaround as the Rockets suddenly began to find their shooting range, outscoring the Sixers 45-24 in the third.
The Rockets knotted the score at 131-131 with 3.9 seconds remaining, before dominating overtime to bring up their seventh straight win to remain second in the Western Conference on 44-25, 12.5 games behind leaders Oklahoma City.
Quentin Grimes led Philadelphia with 46 points, including eight three-pointers, while Green and Jabari Smith Jr topped the Houston scoring with 30 points apiece.
There was another overtime thriller in Minnesota, where Obi Toppin finished with 34 points, 10 rebounds and two assists to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 132-130 win over the Timberwolves.
Anthony Edwards led the Wolves scoring with 38 points.
In New York, 28 points from Mikal Bridges powered the Knicks to a 116-95 defeat of the visiting Miami Heat.
The Knicks, who improved to 43-24 to remain third in the Eastern Conference, effectively decided the contest after blitzing Miami 41-15 in the third quarter, stretching the lead to 27 points early in the fourth before cruising home.
Miami fell to 29-39 and are ninth in the East.
The Detroit Pistons continued their pursuit of the Knicks in the East with a 127-81 thrashing of the New Orleans Pelicans in the Big Easy.
Detroit improved to 38-31 to stay in sixth place in the East.
The Pelicans are now 18-51, one place off the bottom of the Western Conference ahead of the Utah Jazz, who slumped to their 54th defeat of the campaign in a 111-97 loss to the Chicago Bulls.
Elsewhere, the Suns routed the Raptors 129-89, the Kings mauled the Grizzlies 132-122 and the Trail Blazers walloped the Wizards 112-97.
Additional reporting by staff writer
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in