SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Aaron Gordon scored a season-best 38 points, Russell Westbrook hit a crucial late 3-pointer and delivered a triple-double, and the undermanned Denver Nuggets missing their two main stars beat the Golden State Warriors 114-105 on Monday night.
Westbrook contributed 12 points, a season-high 16 assists and 12 rebounds.
Jimmy Butler had 23 points, eight rebounds and six assists as the Warriors had their seven-game winning streak snapped. Golden State dropped to 14-3 since Butler made his debut Feb. 8 and 14-2 in games he played.
Stephen Curry had 20 points and seven assists and Draymond Green became the sixth player in Warriors franchise history to reach 6,000 career rebounds.
Michael Porter Jr. had 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for Denver, playing without big man Nikola Jokic because of a bruised right elbow and left ankle impingement and Jamal Murray sidelined by a sprained right ankle.
Takeaways
Nuggets: Denver is 12-8 on the road vs. the Western Conference and 21-14 overall.
Warriors: G Brandin Podziemski missed his fifth straight game with a lower back strain but is expected to return Tuesday night against Milwaukee.
Key moment
Moments after Gary Payton II scored on a pass from Butler, Payton stole the ball from Jalen Pickett and found Butler for an alley-oop dunk at the 11:23 of the second quarter — and Butler scored a layup the next time down after Payton's rebound.
Key stat
Golden State shot 1 for 8 from long range in the first quarter — Curry making the lone 3 — and missed 13 of its first 14 to fall behind by double digits before Curry connected twice. The Warriors wound up 8 for 33 from deep.
Up next
Denver will play the second of its four-game road trip at the Lakers on Wednesday while the Warriors continue their season-long seven-game homestand against the Bucks on Tuesday night.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
Janie Mccauley, The Associated Press
