Oakland, CA – It was a lightning fast-paced battle and Stephen Curry's ankle held up just fine.
Curry tallied 29 points and 11 assists in the Golden State Warriors' 110-108 triumph over the Denver Nuggets in Game 3 of this Western Conference first- round series.
It was a hectic final few moments.
Wilson Chandler nailed a left corner three to pull Denver within 109-108 with 16.5 seconds remaining. The Warriors called timeout with 9.4 ticks left, but were called for a five-second violation on the ensuing inbounds.
Ty Lawson, who finished with a playoff career-high 35 points, turned the ball over on Denver's next possession with 5.3 seconds to go. Harrison Barnes split a pair of foul shots with 3.7 seconds on the clock and Andre Iguodala's heave from the right side of the midcourt line clanked off the front of the rim as Golden State escaped with the victory to take a 2-1 series lead.
Curry rolled his left ankle late in the third quarter of his team's 131-117 Game 2 win, but returned for the start of the fourth and ended with 30 points and 13 assists.
"Just thankful to be able to get through the game without having any incidents," Curry said of his ankle. "Hopefully it feels better come Sunday."
The Davidson product was 8-of-17 from the field, nailed four 3-pointers and went a perfect 9-of-9 from the charity stripe for the Warriors, who shot 52.5 percent (42-of-80) from the field.
They won despite turning the ball over 23 times, which led to 30 Denver points.
Golden State allowed 66 points in the opening half and trailed by 12 at the break, but climbed back into it with a dominating third frame where it outscored the Nuggets 33-18 and shot a blistering 65 percent from the floor.
Although he gave the ball away seven times, Jarrett Jack added 23 points and seven assists in the triumph.
Lawson also dished out 10 assists, while Corey Brewer deposited 16 points off the bench for the Nuggets.
"The second half it was an offensive game and I don't think we can win here without some defense," Denver head coach George Karl said. "We need to create some offense with our defense."
Game 4 is Sunday in Oakland.
A Lawson pull-up triple gave Denver a 71-58 margin with 8:51 left in the third before the Warriors responded with a 16-2 run. Barnes and Curry netted five points apiece during the surge, with Curry's trey giving the hosts a 74-73 edge with 4:54 remaining in the stanza.
Golden State took an 87-84 cushion into the final stanza.
Carl Landry's short jumper increased the advantage to 94-88 with 9:11 left, but a 6-2 Nuggets flurry capped on back-to-back Kenneth Faried dunks pulled Denver to 96-94 midway through the stanza.
Golden State countered with a 6-2 spurt a bit later in the quarter and two Curry free throws pushed the lead to 108-102 with 1:54 to go.
Lawson drove in for a three-point play at the other end to get Denver within three. Curry and Lawson missed their next two attempts from the floor before Jack split a pair of foul shots to make it 109-105 with 21.5 ticks to play.
Lawson and Curry highlighted the opening frame. Lawson poured in 13, while Curry added 11 as the tilt was knotted at 32-32 heading into the second.
Brewer began a 14-5 Nuggets surge with a triple and capped it with a jumper, which propelled them to a 50-41 lead a little before the midway point of the second.
Golden State netted 12 of the next 15 to get within a point before Denver pulled away again by closing the half on a 13-2 swing. Consecutive Lawson buckets ended the burst and allowed the Nuggets to head into the locker room with a 66-54 advantage.
Game Notes
Warriors center Andrew Bogut was called for a technical foul after he and Denver center JaVale McGee exchanged words ... Golden State was 18-of-23 from the foul line ... Denver shot 46.5 percent (40-of-86) from the field.
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