Denver, CO
Nikola Jokic scores 35 as Nuggets hold off Golden State Warriors
An early-season showdown and a championship test of wills lived up to its billing Wednesday night.
Ultimately, the Nuggets were the last team standing, pulling out a 108-105 victory over the Golden State Warriors at raucous Ball Arena to remain undefeated at home and improve to an NBA-best 8-1.
“To get off to this start and to be undefeated at home, I couldn’t be more proud of this group,” Denver coach Michael Malone said. “Not every game is going to be pretty but we gutted this one out tonight against a very good team.”
There were seven lead changes in a frenetic fourth quarter in a game that had a playoff feel to it — but plenty of sloppy moments, too.
Golden State’s star Stephen Curry reached into his bag of magic tricks to nearly topple the Nuggets. Curry threw in a 34-foot, running 3-pointer to pull the Warriors to within two, at 107-105 with 18.1 seconds left.
Still, Denver looked to be in command until an exhausted Nikola Jokic missed two free throws at the other end. But Denver’s defense stifled Curry, forcing him to miss an awkward layup. Reggie Jackson made one of two foul shots to seal the win for Denver.
Though Jokic, who played 36 minutes, clanked the two key free throws and also threw a silly pass for a turnover in the closing minute, he was still the most powerful force on the floor. He finished with 35 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. He shot 14 of 25.
Wednesday marked the first game this season between the most recent NBA champions. The Nuggets defeated the Heat in six games to win the 2023 title and the Warriors beat the Boston Celtics in six games for the 2022 championship.
The Warriors looked to be on the verge of taking over the game but a 30-second sequence with 8:16 left in the fourth quarter gave the Nuggets the spark they needed to keep up with the energized Warriors.
Curry was swooping in for what seemed like an easy finger-roll layup but Aaron Gordon came out of nowhere to swat the ball away. Curry wanted a goaltending call but didn’t get it.
On the other end, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope did get a goaltending call on his driving layup and also got fouled by Trayce Jackson-Davis. The sequence put Denver ahead, 92-87. Curry was not pleased by the turn of events.
Discombobulated best describes Denver’s third quarter, when it was outscored 31-23, with the Warriors taking a 78-76 lead. With Jackson on the bench with four fouls, Collin Gillespie was called on to run the offense. Things didn’t go smoothly but Jokic’s 14-point quarter kept the game close.
Malone said he didn’t think his “young guys” were ready to play tonight, adding, “That’s the first time I’ve seen that this season.”
Michael Porter Jr., who scored 17 points, began the game on a mission, sparking the Nuggets to a 23-13 lead late in the first quarter with a put-back slam. He scored 10 points in the quarter on 4 of 6 shooting, including two 3-pointers.
With guard and team leader Jamal Murray out for the foreseeable future with a hamstring injury, the Nuggets are determined to make Porter a focal point of the offense. He was coming off a strong game at New Orleans, scoring 22 points with nine rebounds, and three assists in 28 minutes.
Curry played more than 9 minutes in the opening quarter but took only two shots and failed to score. Curry didn’t score his first points until draining a 3-pointer with 6:20 left in the second quarter to tie the game at 36-all.
But Curry, of course, paced the Warriors in the second half and finished with 23 points, though he shot just 35.3% (6 of 17), in part because of the tenacious defense of Caldwell-Pope.
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Thousands of people will be at Civic Center Park this weekend for the Outside Festival. It’s in its second year in downtown Denver.
Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images
The festival includes concerts plus adventure films, climbing experiences, athlete panels and signings, yoga classes, gear demos, a kids’ zone and food.
Tickets are still available at festival.outsideonline.com.
There are some road closures around Civic Center Park due to the festival. Broadway is closed through the weekend from 17th Street to 13th Avenue. A portion of 14th Avenue is also closed.
DENVER — Paul Noel Fiorino has run for mayor of Denver, Colorado governor, and U.S. Senate, but he’s more musician than politician these days.
Fiorino will be playing harmonica and guitar at Skyline Plaza along 16th Street in downtown Denver this week.
“Essentially, they’re paying us to be here as part of the network of performers that the 16th Street has hired,” he told Denver7 on Thursday.
In March, the Denver City Council approved an additional $1.5 million to revive the former 16th Street Mall as it goes through a rebrand. That money is now being put to work to pay performers like Fiorino and fill vacant storefronts with art displays. Those include one storefront now decorated with an array of colorful cowboy hats, and another with dozens of giant straws hanging from the ceiling.
Read our previous coverage below:
This week, a Memorial Day EDM concert brought thousands of people to 16th Street, but also left questions. One viewer reached out to Denver7 asking, “What is planned to bring families, those with or without children, back into downtown?”
We took that question directly to Denver leaders.
“We have over 90 days of events this summer, so there’s something for everyone on 16th Street,” said Kate Barton, chief of external affairs for the Downtown Denver Partnership.
Downtown leaders are betting big on this weekend’s free “summer kickoff” celebration, with family-friendly activities including the World Cup of Speed Climbing. A large rock climbing wall has gone up near 16th and Welton.
Just blocks away at Civic Center Park this weekend, Outside Festival organizers are expecting about 25,000 people after an 18,000-person turnout last year. The hope is that the event drives even more people to 16th.
“There’s so much to celebrate in downtown right now,” said Barton.
However, the same viewer also asked Denver7, “What is the plan to address high cost and low availability to safe parking?” Denver7 also brought that question to Barton.
“We have a couple of opportunities with partners for some parking deals,” she said. “The Denver Performing Arts Complex has a parking deal before 10:30 in the morning if you’re bringing your family. There’s also some other affordable opportunities around. We also always encourage the use of transit to come downtown on the weekends.”
Barton hopes this weekend sets the stage for a busy summer downtown.
“This is really for us to be able to showcase everything that we’ve invested in as a city, and to start to invite people to experience it themselves,” she said.
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Downtown’s most distressed office buildings are also some of the region’s largest. Built during an oil and gas boom in the 1970s and 1980s, most are located in the Upper Downtown and Skyline Park areas, which had multiple blocks scraped to make room for taller buildings.
READ THE FULL PROJECT: At a crossroads: Downtown Denver is waiting for its rebound
Tenants are increasingly favoring smaller leases in the LoDo, Central Platte Valley and Union Station areas if they aren’t leaving for other districts. Denver has designated at least 30 of downtown’s towers as distressed, meaning they have a higher vacancy rate or have been emptied out for renovations or a new use. Click circles for details. Only buildings larger than 100,000 square feet are included.
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