The Warriors' 11-game winning streak came to an end Saturday with a 96-81 defeat at the hands of the Nuggets.
Kevin Durant was unable to keep up his torrid scoring pace as he put up 18 points on 6-of-17 shooting. He went 0 for 5 from 3-point range which carried over to the rest of his teammates. Golden State shot 38.6 percent from the field, but worse, it managed to go just 3 of 27 from beyond the arc.
It was the worst the Warriors has shot from 3-point land by a wide margin this year and the first time it has failed to shoot better than 20 percent from beyond the arc.
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"Sometimes the ball doesn't go in the hole," Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters following the game. "Sometimes when the ball doesn't go in the hole, it affects the body language and energy of the guys. We had some good shots early that didn't go in. It just didn't happen for us. But I'm really proud of our guys. Eleven in a row, given all the injuries. It's hell of a streak. We'll flush this one down the toilet and move on."
After losing Stephen Curry to an injury Dec. 4, many thought the Warriors would take a step back, but all the loss of Curry did was send Kevin Durant on a scoring streak to carry Golden State to seven more consecutive wins. In those games, Durant averaged 32.3 points in addition to 9.6 rebounds.
No player for either team scored 20 points as Nuggets guard Gary Harris led all scorers with 19.
STUDS OF THE NIGHT
Clippers guard Austin Rivers scored 38 points on 14-of-20 shooting in a 115-112 loss to the Grizzlies. Rivers has scored 74 points combined in his last two games.
Pacers guard Victor Oladipo scored 38 points with six assists and four rebounds in Indiana's 123-119 overtime win over the Nets. Oladipo has scored at least 30 points five times in 11 games during the month of December.
DUD OF THE NIGHT
Bulls guard Kris Dunn went 1 of 12 from the floor with two points, two rebounds and seven assists in Chicago's 117-92 loss to the Celtics.
WHAT'S NEXT
Cavaliers (24-9) at Warriors (26-7) 3 p.m. ET Christmas Day — The NBA has Christmas Eve off, but will be back for a great slate of games Christmas Day. No matchup is better than the rematch of the last three NBA Finals. This one needs no introduction, but without Curry, it does not quite has the same cache it usually would.
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