Was that a rosebud poking through the weeds in Denver Monday night?
The Warriors fell 131-124 to the host Nuggets, their ninth loss in the last 11 games, and coach Steve Kerr was asked about their just-completed road trip.
“We went 0-4 and losing sucks,” Kerr said in a video conference. “That’s my biggest takeaway.”
Yet even Kerr had to admit the latest defeat had a different feel to it. Compounded with the news that Draymond Green proclaimed on his podcast he would be ready to play in a week’s time on March 14, he had to concede things may be looking up.
Without Green, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Gary Payton II, the Warriors suited up nine players in the most notorious altitude in the NBA and ran fairly even with a hot Denver team most of the night.
The offensive slack was taken up by Jordan Poole, who finished with a game-high 32 points, and 19-year-old rookie Moses Moody, who set a franchise record for points by a teenager with 30. Jonathan Kuminga, another 19-year-old, had 16 points.
“I loved the effort, it was really good experience for our young guys to be thrust into a position where they had to take on different roles, different responsibilities, Kerr said. “They competed and we had a chance. That’s all we could ask. We just couldn’t close, made a couple of mistakes and they made some plays.”
Most of those plays were by 6-foot-11 Serbian center Nikola Jokic, the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player, who had 32 points, 15 rebounds, and 13 assists.
The Warriors, 43-22, are the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, with Denver at 39-26 and No. 6.
Next up is a home date at Chase Center Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Clippers (34-32) followed by another assignment in Denver Thursday and then a home game against the NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday. If there are no setbacks, Green said he’ll be in the lineup against the Washington Wizards on March 14 at Chase Center.
“I hadn’t listened to Draymond’s podcast yet,” Kerr said. “I’m glad to hear he’s coming back . . . hopefully that’s the case. Obviously he’s got to get that point with another week of rehab and that would be great. We need him.”
If Green comes back and takes the floor with Thompson, it would be the first time this season the two were on the floor at the same time other than the ceremonial opening seconds of Thompson’s return game. Green hasn’t played meaningful minutes since Jan. 5.
“It will be exciting to have him back,” center Kevan Looney said. “We haven’t had a chance to have him and Klay together and see what our full team looks like. He’s been our energy, our spirit and our vocal leader and to have him back will mean a world of difference.”
Green won’t be a panacea, but he’ll surely be of some help — especially on a Warriors defense that in Kerr’s words “has been lousy, frankly, for the last month or so.”
Some of the mistakes the Warriors have been making of late Green simply won’t tolerate.
“He will dramatically help our defense, but he can’t make everybody make the right play,” Kerr said. “He can yell at them — and he’s good at that — and they need that because we have to cut back on our mistakes at both ends and Draymond’s leadership will help in that regard. But there’s a lot of work ahead to return to the kind of team we were for most of the season and have gotten away from the last couple of weeks.”
MOODY’S BIG NIGHT: The No. 14 pick in the draft who has spent some G League time, Moody had 15 points in the first quarter and 22 at the half. Then he added eight more points once Poole caught fire and assumed more of the scoring burden. He had all five of his 3-point shots — the Warriors had 17 in all — in the first half.
“It’s a testament to the work, all the sacrifices and all the stuff I was doing,” Moody said. “You do those things hoping it’s the right thing to do, hoping you’re sacrificing for the greater good. Things like this validate it. I felt good early, the shots were there, they were finding me. I kept putting them in.”
Kerr was impressed.
“Moses was fantastic tonight,” Kerry said. “He’s a guy who’s going to be a cornerstone for this team for a long time to come. It’s easy to see that right now in his rookie year.”
Looney has to remind himself at times that neither Moody nor Kuminga has reached his 20th birthday.
“When you see some of the plays they make, Moses gets 15 in the first quarter, and you see J.K. do these insane things on the floor and you realize, this is their first year and they’re making an impact on a winning team,” Looney said. “That’s hard to do.”
TAKEN APART BY THE STARS: Over the last four losses, the Warriors were victimized by 34 points and 11 rebounds by Luka Doncic of Dallas, 39 points and nine rebounds by Karl Anthony-Towns, 41 and 10 by Doncic again and finally 56 points and 10 rebounds by LeBron James.
Jokic may have been better than any of them Monday night.
“We’re playing against the reigning MVP who probably should win it again,” Kerry said. “I don’t have a vote, but Jokic is just an unbelievable player and he was spectacular tonight. He makes all his teammates better. He makes defense difficult because no matter what you do he’s got a counter for it.”
THE IRONMAN: Looney, who had 13 points and 11 rebounds in 29 minutes, has played every game during a season in which his teammates have been in and out due to injury.
“I want to go the whole way but if I’m feeling tired or that I can’t play I’m not going to force it,” Looney said. “As long as I’m feeling like this I’m going to go out and play. That’s important to me, being available.”
