"We don't have that level yet": Beatdown against Warriors shows how far Nuggets still have to go

Ten nuggets for the 10 3s the Warriors rained on the Nuggets in the first quarter of Tuesday’s 142-111 beatdown.

1. The Warriors were West-Texas-in-July hot, surface-of-the-sun smoldering to start Tuesday’s game. Kevin Durant, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson brought out the flamethrowers, combining for 10 3s in the first 12 minutes of the game. The Warriors racked up 51 points in the first quarter, an NBA record.

“That was a fireworks show,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

2. The Warriors overtook the Nuggets for first place in the West, which was fitting on a night when the back-to-back defending champs showed just how sizeable the gap is between them and everyone else when they’re motivated. When they flip the switch, the Warriors are a tractor beam that materializes anything in its path.

“They’ve got a lot of weapons over there,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “Let’s be honest. I think they sent a message.”

3. Durant, Curry and Thompson combined for 89 points on 34-of-52 shooting. Curry hit eight 3-pointers, while Durant and Thompson each sunk five. They could have done even more damage had they not watched the fourth quarter from the bench because the game was so lopsided.

“They’re more than capable of getting going,” Malone said. “The only problem tonight was we helped them get going. A lack of discipline at times. Once they made a couple, it makes for a long night.”

4. Remember the defensive strides the Nuggets made in the beginning of the season? They’ve backslid in the last month and a half. The Nuggets are allowing 112.8 points per 100 possessions in their last 20 games — the fourth-worst mark in the NBA. Injuries have played a part in that. Paul Millsap missed some time. So did Gary Harris. Those are arguably Denver’s best two defensive players.

Make no mistake: Tuesday was mostly a matter of a great basketball team playing up to its potential. There’s only so much you can do when Durant is hitting contested 3s and Curry is pulling up from 35 feet. But the Nuggets could have made life a little harder by being better on the glass and in transition. They need to rediscover that edge they were playing with on the defensive end early on.

5. Tuesday was a learning experience for a lot of Nuggets players including Malik Beasley. Beasley started at shooting guard for a fifth-straight game in Harris’ place. He hit six 3s en route to 22 points, but defensively he struggled to contain Thompson.

Thompson tied Beasley into knots in the first quarter, when he scored 13 of his 31 points.

6. Steph Curry is among the best players in basketball at moving without the ball. Watch Curry sprint to the 3-point line after rifling this one-handed pass to Draymond Green.

Curry is averaging 3.7 wide open 3s per game, which the NBA defines as any time the closest defender is 6 or more feet away. How does a player who attracts so much attention get that many open looks? Hauling ass to open space on the perimeter after making a pass plays a part in it. Hope Jamal Murray was making mental notes.

7. Speaking of Murray: He was Denver’s best player Tuesday, and it wasn’t close. He kept the Nuggets within spitting distance early on when the Warriors were raining 3s from everywhere. Murray banked in a 3 at the first-quarter buzzer and dapped up about a dozen fans in the first row.

Murray scored 15 in the first quarter. He played well. The Warriors just went nuclear.

8. The Nuggets have had their fair share of success against the Warriors since Nikola Jokic became the team’s starting center a little more than two years ago. Going into Tuesday, Denver held a 4-3 record against Golden State dating back to Jan. 2, 2017. The 31-point defeat was Denver’s worst home loss since March 28, 2014.

“Denzel Washington said you need to fail and fail big,” Jokic said. “You need to fail because then you think about what you did to get to that high level.”

The Nuggets have championship aspirations. Their head coach and youngsters have publicly said winning it all is the goal. The shellacking Tuesday was a good indicator of how far the Nuggets have to go.

“We don’t have that level yet,” Malone said. “We’re trying to find to see if we have that level. Championship teams have that level. Obviously, we’re aspiring to be that type of team. Failure can be a gift if you’re willing to learn from it.”

9. The Nuggets have raced out to a 29-14 record even though they’ve gotten 1 1/2 games from the starting lineup they rolled out opening night. Over the second half of the season, they will hopefully get to see who they are at full strength. Will Barton is finally back after a 38-game absence from a hip/core injury. Harris, who missed his fifth game in a row, should be back in uniform soon as well. The results when Murray, Harris, Barton, Paul Millsap and Jokic play together have been impressive in flashes. Seeing how that group gels is one of the biggest storylines to follow over the next three months.

10. Denver has two great opportunities to repair its bruised ego against Chicago on Thursday and Cleveland on Saturday. The Bulls are 10-34, and the Cavaliers are 9-35. I’m willing to bet neither of those teams shoots 21 of 39 from 3 as the Warriors did Tuesday.