Curry, others rest in Warriors' loss to Nuggets

Manimal’s Monster Game Carries Nuggets

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DENVER — Stephen Curry did a little dancing during timeouts. A little cheering, too. The cameras even caught him designing a play on a marker board.

About the only thing Curry didn’t do was attempt a jumper, which was just fine with the Denver Nuggets.

Kenneth Faried had 24 points and 17 rebounds, Randy Foye hit three crucial 3-pointers down the stretch and the Nuggets rallied to beat short-handed Golden State 114-103 on Friday night as the Warriors rested several of their top players, including Curry.

Faried didn’t take any offense to the Warriors holding out players.

“They’re going to do what they need to in order to keep their players fresh to make a long playoff run,” Faried said. “I think it’s smart on their part and respect them for it.

“At the same time, we all wanted to play against them. It’s a win-lose situation.”

Lately, the Nuggets have been doing far more winning than losing in what’s been a trying season. They pulled off an impressive double this week — beating Atlanta, the Eastern Conference leader, on Wednesday and now the Warriors, who are on top in the Western Conference. Denver also improved to 5-2 since interim coach Melvin Hunt took over for Brian Shaw.

“He’s a great coach,” Faried said of Hunt. “He keeps everybody confident and wanting to play basketball and not wanting to give up on the season. He wants us to go out there and play basketball and have fun.”

Golden State coach Steve Kerr gave Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala and Andrew Bogut the night off because the team plays Saturday at home. In addition, center Marreese Speights served a one-game suspension for pleading no contest to reckless driving.

Justin Holiday led the makeshift Golden State lineup with a career-high 23 points and James Michael McAdoo contributed 16.

“Overall, it was a terrific effort,” Kerr said. “Just kind of ran out of gas.”

The Nuggets led most of the way until Golden State’s cast rallied back. The Warriors took their first lead of the game on a dunk by McAdoo with 29 seconds left in the third quarter and increased the advantage to seven points with 7:21 remaining.

But Denver closed the game on a 25-7 run, with Foye leading the way from behind the 3-point line. He scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter as the Nuggets avenged a 122-79 at Golden State on Jan. 19, their worst loss of the season.

“It feels good to win a game like this against a very good team,” said Danilo Gallinari, who had 24 points.

The Nuggets were without Darrell Arthur (calf) and Ty Lawson (illness), but had rookie center Jusuf Nurkic back on the floor after missing the last eight games with a sprained right ankle. He had four points in limited minutes.

“He’s not 100 percent yet, but he is 100 percent (in his heart) and his head,” Hunt said.

Kerr understands the criticism of resting his top players. He said he would be upset, too, if he was a fan and Curry sat out.

“But I can’t base my team’s welfare on that,” Kerr explained.

Kerr said he consulted with both Curry and Thompson before making the decision and both were amenable.

“That’s when I knew they needed it,” said Kerr, who might rest Thompson and Curry once or twice more before the season ends.

Hunt has certainly endeared himself to this team since stepping in for Shaw. He’s emphasized an up-tempo style, which has energized the squad. They’ve scored 100 or more in every game under Hunt.

“Hire him. Head coach,” Faried said, raising his voice. “Hire him.”

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TIP-INS

Warriors: The Warriors are 23-11 on the road. They’re one away from tying the franchise record for road wins in a season, which was set in 1991-92 and matched in 2013-14. … McAdoo was recently called up from Santa Cruz in the NBA Development League. … Kerr’s starting lineup looked like this: Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green, David Lee, Holiday and Shaun Livingston.

Nuggets: The Nuggets are 17-4 at home against the Warriors since the start of the 2003-04 season. … Denver outrebounded the Warriors 52-35. … All five of Denver’s starters scored in double figures.

UP NEXT

Warriors: Host New York Knicks on Saturday.

Nuggets: At New Orleans on Sunday.

Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press

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