SAN FRANCISCO — Jordan Poole shone in his playoff debut with 30 points and stayed in the starting lineup as Stephen Curry returned from a foot injury and the Golden State Warriors choked Nikola Jokic to beat the Denver Nuggets 123-107 in Saturday night’s game 1 of the first round series.
Finally healthy, Klay Thompson returned to the playoff stage for the first time in nearly three years, scoring 19 points with five 3-pointers, and the perimeter combo of Curry, Poole and Thompson was too much for the Nuggets.
Jokic had 25 points and 10 rebounds for Denver and faced a smothering defense in the paint of Draymond Green and Kevon Looney while shooting 12 for 25.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is taking place Monday night at the Chase Center, which hosted the first playoff game since opening in fall 2019. Fans received black t-shirts that read “Gold Blooded.”
Curry came off the bench and contributed 16 points in 21 minutes after missing exactly a month with a sprained ligament in his left foot. The two-time MVP tested it in a scrimmage on Thursday, coming off the bench and having a minute limit. He checked in at 5:58 am of the first quarter to a rousing ovation.
Curry missed his first five shots before a layup that gave a keeper a 1-14 lead against Aaron Gordon before halftime, then knocked down a 3 from the top of the arc as the Warriors took a 58-47 lead at the break .
Golden State won its last five games ending the regular season and kept rolling.
Jokic averaged 28 points, 15.8 rebounds and 8.8 assists in the four encounters with the Warriors, three winning the Nuggets but only one in double digits. But Green had yet to play Denver this season, so his addition was huge.
Green hit a 3 from above against Jokic with 1:47 in the third, then the Nuggets star turned over moments later when Gary Payton II capitalized with a basket that put Golden State 89-68 ahead.
Green finished with 12 points, nine assists, six rebounds and three blocked shots for a Warriors team that lost to Memphis in last year’s play-in game and made it into the 2019 NBA Finals for the first time since losing sixth Playoffs is games to Toronto.
That was Thompson’s last playoff game when he suffered a cruciate ligament tear in his left knee which required surgery before tearing his right Achilles tendon in November 2020 and having it repaired – which took him over 2 1/2 years to complete came back in January.
Aaron Gordon and Thompson were hit at the 6:25 mark of the second with double technicians.
FAMILIAR FACES
Curry, Green, Andre Iguodala and Thompson played their first game of the season together as the Warriors’ four playoff-seasoned veterans struggled with injuries and lengthy absences. Curry, Green and Thompson helped Golden State beat Denver 4-2 in the first round of the 2013 playoffs when Iguodala played for the Nuggets.
The veteran players were reunited since April 1, 1958 for the first San Francisco playoff game in 58 years against the St. Louis Hawks.
PLAYOFF DEBUT
Poole warmed up in a T-shirt that read “Poole Party,” then shone on the big postseason stage by shooting 9 for 13 with five 3s while starting in Curry’s place. He joined Wilt Chamberlain and Mitch Richmond as the only player in franchise history with 30 points in a postseason debut.
With 2:54 left to play, Poole cut one path, then the other through the key for a layup and was fouled by Will Barton, converting the three-point play. Poole roared with delight as Curry stared at him in delight.
Poole made his first six shots and had 17 points by the break.
TIP INS
Nuggets: DeMarcus Cousins was ejected with 10:28 in the game after back-to-back technical plays. He had seven points and two rebounds against his former team. … Denver shot 11 for 35 from deep, Jokic missing his four 3-point attempts. … Gordon missed his first two shots and landed 3 for 10 with eight points.
Warriors: Thompson overtook Rasheed Wallace (2,384) for 44th on the all-time playoffs goalscoring list. … Andrew Wiggins had 16 points and nine rebounds in his first and only playoffs with Minnesota in 2018. … Looney, who played all 82 regular-season games, grabbed seven boards. …Golden State returned 64.7% in the first quarter, trailing 27-26. … The Warriors went down the stretch 6-6 without a Curry, winning their last five games of the regular season.
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