KAHIT sa homecourt ng Denver, pinatunayan ng Golden State Warriors na kaya nilang manalo sa Nuggets, na muling kinapos at ngayon ay nanganganib mawalis sa first round playoffs.
Kumamada sina Stephen Curry at Jordan Poole ng tig-27 points, habang si Klay Thompson ay may six 3-pointers at kabuuang 26 points sa panalo ng Warriors, 118-113, at ngayon ay 3-0 na sa playoff series.
“It’s a Poole party!” sigaw ni Thompson habang may post-game television interview si Poole.
Sa huling minuto ng laro ay humirit naman ng steal si Draymond Green kay Nikola Jokic, may 37 points at 18 rebounds para sa Nuggets na nangangailangan ng milagro para matalo ang Warriors.
“We played great down the stretch on both ends of the court,” pagmamalaki ni Thompson.
Tumira si Andrew Wiggins ng second-chance 3-pointer upang iangat ang Golden State “for good” 112-111, habang ang may five fouls na si Green ay nakasundot pa ng bola mula kay Jokic sa huling 40 seconds.
“For Draymond to battle him all night and to make that play in the end was just a huge part of the win,” ayon kay Warriors coach Steve Kerr.
Ang NBA teams na may 0-3 record ay 0-143 all-time sa playoffs, kaya maaaring tapusin na ng Golden State ang serye sa Denver sa Lunes (Manila time).
“I know that this sounds weird because it was a loss and there are no moral victories, I get that. But we gave ourselves a chance tonight. We didn’t do that in Golden State. We put ourselves in a position late to beat a very good basketball team,” sabi ni Nuggets coach Michael Malone.
“I love how we fought tonight,” dagdag ni Malone, na muling nagbigay ng challenge sa kanyang players we: “Are we going to roll over? Are we going to fight like hell and send this back to Golden State?”
Nag-ambag si Aaron Gordon ng 18 points para sa Nuggets, talo ng seventh straight sa postseason.
Wala ang max players na sina Jamal Murray(ACL) at Michael Porter Jr. (back), hindi sinabayan ng Nuggets ang ‘healthy and hungry Warriors’.
“We’re in a Pinto, and they’re in a Maserati,” paliwanag ni Malone.
Tinawanan naman ni Kerr ang analogy ni Malone bagama’t inamin niya na “turbo-charged” ang kanyang team. “I think in some ways, we are reinvigorated,” dagdag niya.
Kita rin ang pag-eenjoy ni Curry sa laro. “It was a lovely environment,” aniya. “I love the way we responded.”
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