SAN FRANCISCO — Stephen Curry had a lot to shimmy about Monday night in the Warriors’ dominant 126-106 win over the Denver Nuggets.
After missing his first five shots in Game 1, Curry showed no signs of rust in Game 2 in front of an electric crowd at Chase Center. He made his first shot after entering the game off the bench and scored 11 points during his second-quarter stint.
The Warriors’ three-guard lineup of Curry, Jordan Poole and Klay Thompson, was just as lethal Monday as it was in Saturday’s game. Golden State closed out the second quarter on a 22-8 run with Poole, Thompson and Curry to give the Warriors a 57-51 lead at the half.
The trio also led an entertaining and at times unbelievable shooting clinic in the third quarter, scoring a combined 31 points as the Warriors outscored the Nuggets 46-30 in the quarter.
Oh, and about that guy, Jordan Poole. He had another outstanding playoff performance in what might as well have been his official initiation into the Splash Brothers family. The third-year guard, who oozes confidence every time he steps on the court and has emerged as one of the Warriors’ most reliable scorers this season, went 5-of-10 from 3-point range, just like Curry. The 22-year-old finished with 29 points and eight assists.
Poole’s latest showing comes less than a day after he was excluded from the list of Most Improved Player finalists. Asked about the omission Monday, Poole brushed it off and said he had bigger fish to fry.
“Luckily we’re still fighting for a championship,” he said.
And with two commanding playoff victories in their rear-view mirror, it seems like the Warriors are on track to make another run at a title.
The Nuggets’ frustrations from Game 1 seemed to boil over to Monday’s contest. Forward Jeff Green, center DeMarcus Cousins and guard Will Barton seemed to get into a heated exchange during a timeout in the third quarter. Nikola Jokic also was assessed two technicals in the second half, resulting in an ejection from the game. His second came in the fourth quarter as he argued with an official over a non-call.
While it initially appeared that Draymond Green was right when he said that Jokic was “coming back with vengeance,” as Jokic drew two fouls within the first 1:30 of the game. That doubled the number of Jokic’s free throws from Game 1 before some fans even got to their seats, but the Warriors were able to slow the Joker for the remainder of the game.
Jokic finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds and four assists on 9-of-20 shooting.
Thompson had 21 points on 9-of-19 shooting and Andrew Wiggins added 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds in what was another productive performance for the All-Star guard.
The Warriors own a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series and are scheduled to travel to Denver later this week, where they’ll play Game 3 on Thursday and Game 4 Sunday.
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