Steve Kerr opened up ahead of the Warriors Game 4 matchup against the Nuggets about how Steph Curry is almost back to being able to play without a minutes restriction.
DENVER -- It didn't take long for it to be clear we could be in for an ugly Game 4 Sunday at Ball Arena in the Warriors' first-round NBA playoff series against the Denver Nuggets. Just 40 seconds into the game, Draymond Green accidentally poked Nuggets star Nikola Jokic in the eye before Green and Aaron Gordan then found themselves in a kerfuffle that cost each of them a technical foul.
That's how it felt the rest of this game would go, and it turned into an absolute fight. Both teams took their best swings at each other. Both got back up and responded all game long.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
But the Warriors took one too many punches and fell 126-121, failing to complete a sweep.
The loss was full of bizarre moments like Steph Curry missing four free throws for the first time in his career, though he did score 15 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter. The refs decided to take Too Short's "Blow The Whistle" to the extreme, and after the first quarter the Nuggets took 12 free throws compared to only two by the Warriors. Jordan Poole finally had his first poor shooting game in what felt like forever, and Draymond Green fouled out with just over two minutes left after playing fantastic basketball and finishing a plus-18 in 34 minutes.
Klay Thompson put together a vintage playoff performance, but it wasn't enough.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors' five-point loss after taking the first three games of the series.
Golden State Warriors
Find the latest Golden State Warriors news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
Game 4 Klay
Thompson has a long list of monikers, most notably "Game 6 Klay." Well, "Game 4 Klay" showed up Sunday in Denver.
He came out firing, scoring eight early points but foul trouble held him to under four minutes in the first quarter. By halftime, he had four fouls, with the fourth being Charmin soft in the final seconds of the half. If it weren't for those early fouls, there's no telling how different this game could have looked.
Over 31 minutes, Thompson scored 32 points and made his first five 3-point attempts. In the end, he shot 12-for-20 from the field and made seven of his 11 shots from deep. The rest of the Warriors went 5-for-23.
This marked Thompson's first 30-point playoff performance since Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals when he scored 30 before sustaining a torn ACL. In all four games this series, Thompson has increased his points. He scored 19 in Game 1, 21 in Game 2, 26 in Game 3 and then 32 in Game 4.
Poole Party Closes Early
Through the Warriors' first three games against the Nuggets, it was easy to forget that this is Poole's first taste of the playoffs and that Sunday was his first closeout game. He was averaging nearly 29 points coming into Game 4 and was the Warriors' No. 1 option much of the time.
But Poole looked out of control at times and couldn't find his shooting stroke while battling a lingering issue to his left non-shooting elbow. While he did hand out nine assists, Poole scored just 11 points while going 3-for-10 from the field and 1-for-5 on 3-pointers.
Poole (minus-6) was the only Warriors starter who finished in the negative regarding his plus-minus.
Playoff Kuminga
Rookie Jonathan Kuminga has been patiently waiting, looking to make his mark in these playoffs after playing brief garbage-time minutes in the Warriors' first two games. He didn't play a second in Game 3, but with the Warriors in foul trouble and Andre Iguodala struggling, Steve Kerr turned to the 19-year-old with just over 11 minutes left in the second quarter and didn't look back.
Kuminga looked a bit lost at first but quickly showed the kind of spark he can bring to the Warriors. Even if he's inconsistent at times, you can always count on at least one eye-opening highlight from him.
Not only did Kuminga score nine points in the second quarter, he played strong defense on Jokic, ran the floor and showed he belonged -- at least for certain stints.
He didn't come back into the game after the second quarter, and it will be awfully interesting to see how he's used in Game 5 and beyond.