105

Final 1 2 3 4 Tot Denver 25 35 26 19 105 Golden State 30 21 27 28 106

106

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Nuggets-Warriors Preview

By NOEY KUPCHAN

(AP) -- The Denver Nuggets put together four straight wins before coming up short their last time out.

Another matchup against the Golden State Warriors could help them get back on track.

Having already seen each other twice this season, the visiting Nuggets try to continue their recent dominance of the Warriors as the teams square off Thursday night.

Denver (8-7) found itself on the verge of its longest winning streak of the season before letting a 16-point lead slip away in Monday's 105-103 loss at Utah.

The Nuggets shot a season-high 54.8 percent and outrebounded the Jazz 38-31 but couldn't overcome the absence of Andre Iguodala, who received his second technical foul and was ejected after Utah's 14-2 run with 3:24 left in the third quarter.

"You can learn from every game," said Iguodala, who finished with 10 points. "You can learn if you don't do the right things, if you don't put the game out of reach like you're supposed to, you can lose the game. Some things were out of our control, but we still have to learn to be mentally tough - including myself - to get through it and fight for a win."

The Nuggets now turn their attention to the Warriors (8-6), whom they've had their way with of late. Denver has taken 11 of 14 matchups in the series, including the last three by an average of 18.7 points.

After pulling out a 107-101 double-overtime road win Nov. 10, the Nuggets beat Golden State 102-91 on Friday behind a season-high 29 points from Iguodala. Danilo Gallinari added 20 for Denver, which outscored the Warriors 58-34 in the paint.

While David Lee had 21 points for Golden State in that game, Stephen Curry struggled to break free from Ty Lawson and was 2 of 5 for six points - 12.4 less than his team-leading average.

"I think Ty and him have a little bit of a rivalry," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "He's understanding he can be a pest on that end of the court."

Curry, though, found his stroke the following night in a 96-85 win over Minnesota, posting 20 points while going 5 for 10 from 3-point range. Klay Thompson also had it going, compiling a season-high 24 points.

Thompson averaged 13.4 points on 33.3 percent shooting in his first 11 games but has since averaged 21.0 on 50.0 percent from the field in his last three.

"It's good to see him shooting with confidence, being aggressive and not worrying about missing shots, because at the end of the day, he's not coming out for missing shots," coach Mark Jackson told the league's official website. "That's not going to happen. He's too good of a shooter and obviously you can see the weapon that he adds to our offense."

Harrison Barnes, the No. 7 overall pick in this year's draft, has also provided a spark. He had 10 points and 11 rebounds against the Timberwolves - his third double-double in seven games.

"We're 8-6 without our starting center (Andrew Bogut), without our sixth man (Brandon Rush), with a bunch of young guys that just flat-out compete," Jackson said. "There's going to be some tough nights for us, I don't have to be a prophet to tell you that, but this team has something about it that refuses to let go of the rope."

Golden State, which allowed a league-high 106.8 points per game over the previous three seasons, has surrendered an average of 88.7 during a three-game home winning streak. The Warriors haven't won four straight in Oakland since March 25-April 6, 2011.

Updated November 28, 2012