{"id":47182,"date":"2022-05-06T08:00:51","date_gmt":"2022-05-06T12:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=47182"},"modified":"2022-05-05T20:44:16","modified_gmt":"2022-05-06T00:44:16","slug":"golden-state-warriors-vs-denver-nuggets-series-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2022\/05\/06\/golden-state-warriors-vs-denver-nuggets-series-recap\/","title":{"rendered":"Golden State Warriors vs. Denver Nuggets Series Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It only took 5 games, but the Golden State Warriors are moving on in the 2022 playoffs. A series full of highs and low, it was the Warriors&#8217; star power that proved too much for the Denver Nuggets. With <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/curryst01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Stephen Curry<\/strong><\/a> and company getting ready for the Memphis Grizzlies, it is back to the drawing board for the Denver Nuggets and their intriguing off-season.<\/p>\n<h2>Golden State Warriors vs. Denver Nuggets Series Recap<\/h2>\n<h3>Fear The Warriors<\/h3>\n<p>Despite some worrisome free-throw shooting, the Golden State Warriors are in rare form. While it was expected for Curry and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/player\/_\/id\/6475\/klay-thompson\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Klay Thompson<\/strong><\/a> to stand out, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/poolejo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Jordan Poole<\/strong><\/a> has become a true breakout star. Averaging 21 points per game, Poole showed undeniable tenacity on both the offense and defensive end.<\/p>\n<p>But this was more than a one-player effort. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/extra-mustard\/2022\/04\/28\/warriors-ptsd-small-ball-death-lineup-nickname\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">With a playful nickname attached<\/a>, the Warriors&#8217; new small-ball lineup may become their ace for the rest of the playoffs. A combined average of .520% from the field and 98 assists can put this team in the driver&#8217;s seat to the NBA Finals.<\/p>\n<p>Throw in <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/lebron-james-reacts-gary-payton-063558527.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">timely buckets in a closeout game<\/a> from bench stalwart <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/paytoga02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Gary Payton II<\/strong>\u00a0<\/a>after going scoreless the game before, this is a team to fear in the West.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Clutch play after clutch play in the final frame \ud83d\ude24<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/googlecloud?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@googlecloud<\/a> || Player of the Game <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1W3qUMMAGE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/1W3qUMMAGE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Golden State Warriors (@warriors) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/warriors\/status\/1519554503284035585?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 28, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>\u00a0Nikola Jokic Should Be NBA MVP<\/h3>\n<p>When you average 31\/13\/5 in a 5-game playoff, you should be held in high regard as an MVP. But <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jokicni01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Nikola Jokic<\/strong><\/a> continues to be one of the most polarizing MVP winners and 2022 candidates. Without <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/murraja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jamal Murray<\/a><\/strong> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/portemi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Michael Porter Jr.<\/strong><\/a>, Jokic took it upon himself to carry the Nuggets throughout this series. A herculean effort, the former 2020-2021 NBA MVP showed his entire repertoire against the Warriors. Averaging a staggering .575% from the field while still dishing almost 6 assists per game, Jokic showed his ability to not only carry the Nuggets but also lead by example.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Nikola Joki\u0107 is the first Nuggets player over the last 25 years to record 10 rebounds in a single quarter of a playoff game. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/imql1IFSGK\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/imql1IFSGK<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; ESPN Stats &amp; Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ESPNStatsInfo\/status\/1519506360517468162?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 28, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>But will he receive the votes necessary to win the trophy? It should be this series, regardless of the loss, that must be the blueprint.<\/p>\n<h3>Health Is Wealth<\/h3>\n<p>Regardless of the outcome, the Golden State Warriors still had their share of injuries. From Game 1, Curry was doubtful to play Game 1 after missing 12 games at the end of the season and the Play-In Tournament. Can he maintain a positive trend of a clean bill of health en route to a deep playoff run?<\/p>\n<p>This same question can go for Thompson, who as mentioned in our <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2022\/04\/16\/golden-state-warriors-vs-denver-nuggets-nba-playoffs-preview\/\" target=\"_self\">series preview<\/a>, has only played seven games with Curry. Outside of the Warriors&#8217; dynamic backcourt, the team&#8217;s success will rely on the health of <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/iguodan01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Andre Iguodala<\/a><\/strong>. An added defensive reinforcement along with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/player\/_\/id\/6589\/draymond-green\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Draymond Green<\/strong><\/a>, Iguodala may not have been the impact player needed in this series but will be important in the next round. Can this team maintain a clean bill of health into June?<\/p>\n<h3>What&#8217;s Next For the Golden State Warriors and Denver Nuggets<\/h3>\n<p>Up next for the Golden State Warriors is the Memphis Grizzlies.\u00a0 In a<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ESPNStatsInfo\/status\/1520894330558459904\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u00a0series that has already begun on a historic note<\/a>, the Warriors look to slow down the NBA&#8217;s Most Improved Player in <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/moranja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ja Morant<\/a><\/strong>. The key in this series will be Green, as the defensive anchor will need to <a href=\"https:\/\/bleacherreport.com\/articles\/10034725-draymond-greens-flagrant-2-foul-in-warriors-game-1-win-wont-be-reduced-by-nba\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">avoid any more technical fouls<\/a> as he is one away from being suspended for a game. While on paper this seems to be a 50\/50, it will be on Curry and Thompson with their health history to prove their mettle.<\/p>\n<p>For the Denver Nuggets, they will look toward the future while waiting for the recovery of Murray and Porter Jr. Another key will be improving this year&#8217;s roster as the Nuggets look to capitalize on this year&#8217;s success. With a report <a href=\"https:\/\/nba.nbcsports.com\/2022\/05\/01\/nuggets-president-connelly-says-ownership-willing-to-pay-luxury-tax-for-contender\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">publicly stating ownership is willing to exceed the luxury tax this summer<\/a>, the Nuggets continue to be buyers this off-season.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"5_f_cMO-TQVefB6lfhsXbw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1296438199\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'5_f_cMO-TQVefB6lfhsXbw',sig:'VOhNLg5iHxV0d7lSIiCqJRfSQ8A01usNFASghe0zcc8=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1296438199',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It only took 5 games, but the Golden State Warriors are moving on in the 2022 playoffs. A series full of highs and low, it was the Warriors&#8217; star power that proved too much for the Denver Nuggets. With Stephen Curry and company getting ready for the Memphis Grizzlies, it is back to the drawing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4161,"featured_media":47227,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,20,25,62],"tags":[629,108,409,2795,182,1822,109,1909,70,1223,72,48],"class_list":["post-47182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nuggets","category-warriors","category-nba","tag-andre-iguodala","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-draymond-green","tag-gary-payton-ii","tag-golden-state-warriors","tag-ja-morant","tag-jamal-murray","tag-jordan-poole","tag-klay-thompson","tag-michael-porter-jr","tag-nikola-jokic","tag-stephen-curry"],"modified_by":"Wesly Beausoleil, Lead Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}