Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (L) made five 3-pointers in a playoff win over the Denver Nuggets on Monday in San Francisco. Photo by John G. Mabanglo/EPA-EFE
April 19 (UPI) — Sharpshooter Stephen Curry came off the bench and scored a game-high 34 points in 23 minutes to lead the Golden State Warriors to a win over the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of the Western Conference playoff series.
Curry, who is returning from a foot injury, made 12 of 17 shots overall and five 3-pointers in the 126-106 blowout victory Monday at Chase Center in San Francisco. Warriors guard Jordan Poole also made five 3-pointers and totaled 29 points in the win.
“Right now, the goal is to make my minutes impactful, as much as possible,” Curry told reporters. “We will see [if I start soon]. We won’t give any of that away before [Game 3].”
The Warriors, who own a 2-0 lead in the first-round series, outshot the Nuggets 54.8% to 42.5% and totaled 17 3-pointers. They also outscored the Nuggets 46-42 in the paint, 13-6 off fast breaks and 57-46 off the bench. They led by as many as 23 points in the victory.
“We’ve been watching this for a long time with Steph,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said of Curry. “You never really are surprised when he has an outburst like that. It’s great to see.”
The Nuggets started the game with a 7-0 run. All-Star center Nikola Jokic scored a dozen in the first quarter to help the Nuggets carry a 26-25 lead into the second. The Warriors ended the first on a 10-0 run and carried that momentum into the second.
Curry and fellow sharpshooter Klay Thompson scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, over the next 12 minutes. The Warriors outscored the Nuggets 32-25 in the second to take a 57-51 lead at the break.
The Warriors started the third on a 10-2 run to push their lead to 14. They added a 13-3 run in the same quarter to increase their cushion. Poole and Curry combined for 23 points in the third and the Warriors took a 101-81 lead into the fourth. Each team totaled 25 points over the final 12 minutes.
Jokic totaled 26 points and 11 rebounds in the loss. Will Barton, Monte Morris and Bones Hyland scored a dozen points apiece for the Nuggets.
Thompson scored 21 points for the Warriors. Andrew Wiggins and Nemanja Bjelica scored 13 and 10 points, respectively, in the victory.
The Nuggets host the Warriors in Game 3 of the best-of-seven game series at 10 p.m. EDT Thursday at Ball Arena in Denver.
