The Golden State Warriors fell to the Denver Nuggets 120-114 on Monday afternoon, falling to 15-15 on the season. The Dubs were unable to pull off an upset against one of the better teams in the Western Conference.

While fans were looking forward to the showdown between Steph Curry and Nikola Jokic, neither team’s star player turned in a dominant overall performance. In fact, Joki didn’t make a field goal until the second half, while Curry made just four of his first 14 shots.

Joki, who made all 16 of his free throw attempts, did a better job than Curry of maintaining a scoring threat. He finished with 26 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists. Curry, on the other hand, finished 7-for-21 with 18 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists.

When the Nuggets and Warriors needed offensive help from somewhere, their respective strengths were on full display. Denver looks at the other scorers in their starting lineup. Jamal Murray led the way with 28 points, and every member of the Nuggets’ starting lineup scored at least 16 points. On Denver’s bench, no player scored more than 6 points.

On the other hand, the Warriors rely on the depth that has put them at the top of the rankings. Andrew Wiggins produced one of the best overall performances of the season. He was the Warriors’ most well-rounded player, combining solid perimeter defense with 22 points on 7-for-11 shooting.  Dario Ari and Chris Paul combined for 27 points off the bench. Trayce Jackson-Davis’s stat line is less impressive with only 8 points, 3 rebounds and 5 fouls, but he is also a deadly trigger.

 

However, Wiggins’ better performance may not be enough to get him back into the starting lineup. As a starter, Brandin Podziemski has continued to shine. In over 34 minutes of play, he had 13 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals on 4-for-7 shooting (3-for-4 from three).

The Nuggets started fast from behind the arc and led the entire opening quarter. However, Golden State’s reserves powered up the second half to take the lead of the game. Despite a series of back-and-forth rallies over the following two quarters, the inability of Curry and Klay Thompson to score effectively (Thompson went 3-for-12 with nine points) proved too difficult to overcome as Murray burned late.

The Warriors will go home disappointed after another close loss. They will have a few days off before hosting the Miami Heat at Chase Center on Thursday. The first game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Pacific time.