SAN FRANCISCO – The Warriors fell into a proverbial “trap” game Monday night and could not find their way out.
With the Denver Nuggets missing three starters, including three-time MVP Nikola Jokić and star guard Jamal Murray, Golden State responded with its most disappointing performance since Jimmy Butler III joined the roster five weeks ago.
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The Warriors’ 114-105 loss before an anxious sellout crowd at Chase Center leaves a nasty blister, as it came on a night when they had a grand opportunity to improve their status in the logjammed Western Conference playoff race.
With Stephen Curry battling back pain that had him on the pregame injury report and scoring 20 points on 6-of-20 shooting – and committing seven turnovers – Butler scored a team-high 23 and Gary Payton II added 18.
Steph keeps the Warriors in it with a pair of 3s 👌pic.twitter.com/323qkSVi50
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 18, 2025
They missed 12 free throws, shot 8-of-33 from beyond the arc, were outrebounded 52-38, gave up 24 points off 20 turnovers and threw some of the wackiest passes known to mankind.
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Here are three observations from the worst loss of the Butler era:
Fourth-quarter Surge Not Enough
Trailing by as much as 15, and by 12 after three quarters, the Warriors mustered enough energy to mount a comeback that woke up a crowd that spent the first three quarters trying to fight off drowsiness.
Butler and Kuminga were noticeably more determined, tightening their defense and unleashing aggressive drives to crash into the paint.
Jimmy wasn't having any of this 🚫pic.twitter.com/OqMmzMU1mj
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 18, 2025
The Warriors opened the fourth quarter with a 17-8 burst, trimming the deficit to three (97-94) on two free throws by Curry with 6:48 remaining.
The Nuggets, however, came back with three buckets to push their lead back to nine with 4:31 remaining, and Golden State only can blame itself for never mounting another serious threat.
The Warriors over the final four minutes committed three fouls and three turnovers, giving Denver enough room to maintain an advantage.
First-half Slumber Digs Deep Hole
It didn’t take long for the Warriors to prove that even in the heat of an NBA playoff race, there can be instances when a streaking team gets lackadaisical against a “lesser” team.
With three-time MVP Jokić, second-leading scorer Murray (21.5 ppg) and fourth-leading scorer Christian Braun (15.2 ppg) out, the Nuggets rolled with their B team and Golden State took the floor with the casual demeanor of strolling seniors.
The Warriors before halftime were sloppy, nonchalant and lacked focus. They missed layups, botched fast breaks, were outrebounded 25-15, (6-4), shot 4-of-12 from the line, 4-of-19 from distance and – Payton aside – displayed the defensive tenacity of ice cream.
Denver’s two available starters, Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr., feasted on Golden State’s largesse, combining for 36 points (4.5 points more than their combined game averages).
AG jabs, drives, then hits the fadeaway middy 💪 pic.twitter.com/CMhVeWF3Rb
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) March 18, 2025
It was, for the Warriors, 24 minutes of stunningly bad basketball.
GP2’s Lonely Sojourn
As the Warriors were stumbling about, Payton came off the bench to make a valiant effort to keep the Nuggets from building an insurmountable lead.
He came off the bench late in the first quarter and in his first three minutes recorded three steals, trying to pump some spirit into his lagging teammates. He scored 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting in 10 second-quarter minutes.
Payton’s 18 points came on 8-10 shooting from the field, including 2 of 3 from beyond the arc. He finished minus-1 in 26 minutes.
He could have used a little help.