ORACLE ARENA — The Warriors demoralized the Nuggets. There’s no other way to put it.
There’s no question the Warriors depth has been one of the teams leading weapons, and it was never more evident than against Denver.
In a 122-79 blowout victory, the Warriors bench scored 67 points as Golden State won its 16th straight home game, tying a franchise record for the most consecutive home wins.
Shaun Livingston and Leandro Barbosa led Warriors reserves with 12 points each as Livingston played backup to Stephen Curry. Livingston told SFBay being able to lead and play with this deep of a team is a true honor:
“To be put in this position, I’m just grateful honestly. It’s easy to say this is just what we do, but honestly to have that unit of Andre and Mo and all the other guys out there with me, they help make me better.”
Denver struck first as Wilson Chandler hit a three-pointer to start off the night, but it was the only time the Nuggets would lead.
The Warriors had a 10-point lead to start the second quarter but the reserves didn’t skip a beat, immediately going on a 15-0 run, including two treys from Justin Holiday, to build the Warriors lead 40-18 midway through the frame.
Golden State played their best defensive game of the season, holding the Nuggets to just 28 points at halftime and 34.5 percent shooting for the night.
With the lead pushed ahead even further, 89-60 at the end of the third, Golden State’s starters sat the entire fourth quarter. The bench came in to close the game and did so in perfect fashion, extending the lead and final margin to 43 points.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said he knows the sacrifice his players are making in order for the team to win and that the biggest thing is the commitment from every player:
“We are talking about All-Stars and big producers. They know they have something special with their group and their teammates and it’s really fun to watch it unfold.”
Every active Warriors player scored Monday, including James Michael McAdoo, who signed a 10-day contract with the team as a call-up from their D-League affiliate in Santa Cruz.
McAdoo, the first rookie to take the floor this season for the Warriors, scored 11 points to go with five rebounds in just over 12 minutes in his NBA debut. His 11 points are the most scored in a career debut by a Warrior since Curry tallied 14 points in his debut in 2009.
After the game McAdoo told SFBay he couldn’t have imagined a better outcome:
“To be able to play the way I did. I owe it all to god, my teammates and this organization for giving me the opportunity…to be called up to the number one team in the NBA, its amazing just to be able to go out there and help contribute.”
The Warriors dished out 30 assists for a league-leading 16th time this season. … Golden State’s 43-point victory is the team’s largest this season, making the Warriors the only team in the NBA to have multiple 40-point victories this year. … All active players for Golden State played at least 10 minutes, the first time in franchise history the Warriors have had 13 players play double-digit minutes in a single game. … Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson both scored 20 points in the same game for the 56th time in their careers. Thompson led all scorers with 22 points while Curry tallied 20 points and eight assists, with both players hitting 7-of-13 from they field. … Shaun Livingston tallied his seventh double-digit scoring output of the season with 12 points on a perfect 6-of-6 from the field, just the second time in his career he’s gone perfect form the field on at least six attempts.
Follow @SFBay and @NBASarah on Twitter and at SFBay.ca for full coverage of the Golden State Warriors.
Last modified January 21, 2015 10:43 pm
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