The Golden State Warriors are 29-5. They have the best starting five in the NBA, featuring two players that have won the last three league MVPs in Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry. They are No. 1 in field goals made, field goal percentage, assists, blocks and points scored. They are also in the top five in 3-pointers made, 3-point percentage, rebounding and steals.
Tonight, in Oakland, the Nuggets get a chance to crack the Golden State code.
So what’s the Warriors’ kryptonite?
Nuggets coach Michael Malone had an answer for that. Of course when you’re talking about a team as powerful as Golden State, it’s all relative.
“Their weakness has always been rebounding,” Malone said. “Defensive rebounding. And then offensively, turnovers. They’ve been turnover-prone at times. And then because they play so much small ball, you can hurt them on the glass. If you had to say, what are Superman’s two weaknesses? Turnovers offensively, and then sometimes not rebounding because of how small they play at times.”
No team has allowed more offensive rebounds this season than the Warriors, and that ought to add a level of excitement to the Nuggets given the fact that they are the second-best offensive rebounding team in the NBA.
Golden State is in the bottom third of the league in turnovers, but the Nuggets are last in the NBA in converting points off of turnovers, getting just 13.2 points per game from opponents’ miscues.
When the teams met for the first time back on Nov. 10, the Nuggets’ own turnovers were a big issue. Golden State converted 19 Nuggets’ turnovers into a whopping 33 points. They also had 25 fast-break points and 54 points in the paint.
The Warriors look a lot like the team that won the NBA title two seasons ago — overpowering both on offense and defense.
“You’re not going to be able to outscore Golden State,” Malone said. “You hope they may have an off night. We did a good job on Kevin Durant (in the first game), and Steph (Curry) and Klay (Thompson) hurt us. Some of the things we did last game we cannot do again and expect it to be a game.”
Monday night’s game at Golden State kicks off a stretch of three games in four nights. Tuesday, the Nuggets face Sacramento – a team they are fighting with for the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference – in Denver. Then, the Nuggets get San Antonio two nights later.
The subject of sitting a few players for the Golden State game was broached among the Nuggets coaching staff, but was swiftly nixed.
“I don’t subscribe to that,” Malone said. “That would be a bad message to send to our guys, that, “Hey, we can’t beat (Golden State), let’s give ourselves a chance to beat (the Kings). I think we can beat anybody on any given night, I really do.”
Malone is also trying to cultivate a winning culture. Purposefully avoiding the best competition runs counter to that.
“Exactly right,” Malone said. “You just go out there and compete and try to find a way to win the game. When we don’t win, regardless of who we play, we’ll all be disappointed.”
Injury update: Forward Darrell Arthur (knee) and guard Jameer Nelson (abdomen) are listed as questionable for the game. Malone said the duo would likely be game-time decisions. Arthur is again dealing with swelling in his left knee. Malone said Nelson was “really sore” on Sunday, trying to go through practice.