Stephen Curry scored 30 points on his return to the Golden State starting lineup and the Warriors beat Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets 102-98 on Wednesday to end a five-game winning streak in the first round.
Curry scored a three-point shot with 1:33 and scored again in 29 seconds to send the Warriors to the second round in the West.
Jokic scored 12 of his 30 points in the final 3:46 and finished with 19 rebounds and eight assists.
The Warriors will face the winner of the Memphis-Minnesota duel in the next round. The Grizzlies lead 3-2 in a row with the match 6 on Friday in Minneapolis. Memphis eliminated Golden State in the qualifying round last year.
Djokic equalized 90-90 with 2:26 remaining before Golden State’s Gary Peyton made a jump shot a few moments later.
Jokic converted two free throws with 3:46 remaining after the foul of Draymond Green. Jokic has completed 12 successful shots in 18 attempts. DeMarcus Cousins added 19 points to his former team and Aaron Gordon had 15 points and nine rebounds.
Denver scored 7 of its first 10 shots after halftime to turn the 48-48 tie into a 10-point lead, 66-56.
Curry, for his part, converted 10 of his 22 shots. On March 16 against Boston, a ligament was injured in his left leg. Coach Steve Kerr gradually took it with Curry.
For his part, Clay Thompson scored a total of 15 points and nine rebounds.
