Curry Leads Warriors to 125-101 Rout of Nuggets
DENVER (AP) -- Stephen Curry scored 33 points Thursday and the Golden State Warriors beat the Denver Nuggets 125-101 on a night Kevin Durant's string of 72 straight regular-season games with at least 20 points ended.
Durant finished with 18 points. He remained tied with Michael Jordan for the fourth-longest streak of 20 or more points in league history.
Curry tweaked his ankle in a win over Dallas on Wednesday, but it didn't appear to hamper him. He finished 7 of 13 from 3-point range, including one that he turned into a four-point play.
Rookie Jamal Murray had 14 points for the Nuggets, who are 0-2 at Pepsi Center this season after stressing the importance of regaining a home-court advantage. Fellow rookie Malik Beasley scored his first NBA points on a 3-pointer in the third quarter. He finished with 12 points.
Golden State went on a 17-2 run in the first quarter and never looked back. The Warriors led by as many as 31 points in the third. Durant stayed in the game, trying to get to the magic number of 20, until 5:53 remaining. He was subbed out after being called for an offensive foul.
Durant's streak began on Nov. 23, 2015, while with Oklahoma City.
TIP-INS
Warriors: Rookie Damian Jones (right pectoral surgery) is scheduled to join Santa Cruz of the NBA Development League on Nov. 20. The center out of Vanderbilt was taken by the Warriors with the 30th overall pick. "We do like his potential and his future," coach Steve Kerr said. ... C Zaza Pachulia played in his 900th career game.
Nuggets: Wilson Chandler (left hamstring), Darrell Arthur (left knee) and Will Barton (left ankle) didn't play.
PROTEST
Denver filed a protest with the NBA over a disputed call in the final second of a 108-107 loss in Memphis on Tuesday. The ball appeared to go off a Grizzlies player with 0.7 seconds remaining, but the ruling on the floor and video review awarded possession to Memphis. Marc Gasol hit the game-winning shot on a tip-in.
"Best-case scenario would be to replay the last seven-tenths," coach Michael Malone said.
The odds of that happening, though, are "slim and none," Malone said.
SENSITIVE TOPIC
Kerr is careful not to rest his starters on the road unless absolutely necessary. He held out most of his top players during a March 2015 game in the Mile High City and received quite a few angry emails from fans.
"I sympathize with those people," Kerr said. "It's tricky. I've got to do what's best for the team."
ATHLETE SIGHTINGS
There were quite a few Denver Broncos in attendance, including pass rushers Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware, along with receiver Demaryius Thomas and cornerback Chris Harris Jr. The Colorado Avalanche were represented by forward Nathan MacKinnon and defenseman Tyson Barrie.
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