After trailing 111-109 with just over three minutes remaining, the Golden State Warriors finished on a 9-2 run to take down the Denver Nuggets 118-113 Thursday night in Game 3.
And with the victory, the Warriors take a (very) commanding 3-0 lead in the first-round playoff series. No NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in a seven-game series, so history is definitely not on Denver’s side.
Jordan Poole scored 27 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field, and Steph Curry came off the bench — quite the sixth man! — to score 27 too. Additionally, Klay Thompson scored 26 points.
Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokić certainly did enough to be on the winning side of things, scoring 37 points (14-of-22 from the field) and pulling down 18 rebounds. However, Golden State’s Draymond Green stole the ball from Jokić on a crucial play with under 40 seconds remaining.
The scary thing for the rest of the Western Conference when it comes to the Warriors is that Golden State is still finding its groove. Steph Curry has averaged just 25 minutes per game this series — topping out at 31 minutes in Game 3 — and has come off the bench in every game. It’s very possible that the Warriors have another level they can reach, and they’ve still found a way to go 3-0 vs Jokić and the Nuggets.
As for Denver, it’s shaping up to be another disappointing end to a promising season. Being without Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. has been devastating, but every year in Jokić’s prime is a sacred opportunity. The Nuggets have never even reached the NBA Finals as a franchise, and they have only one win in the conference finals over the last 13 seasons despite eight playoff appearances in that time.
Here’s a look at how the hoops world is reacting to Golden State’s win over Denver in Game 3: