Nuggets' franchise-record 57 wins all for naught as they make another early playoff exit

Denver Nuggets center Kosta Koufos (41) and Kenneth Faried (35) walk off the court during the second half of Game 6 in a first-round NBA basketball playoff series against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday, May 2, 2013, in Oakland, Calif. At right is Warriors' Andrew Bogut. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) (The Associated Press)

Denver Nuggets coach George Karl gestures from the sidelines during the second half of Game 6 in a first-round NBA basketball playoff series against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday, May 2, 2013, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Ben Margot) (The Associated Press)

DENVER – The Denver Nuggets brain trust has plenty of time on its hands now to contemplate whether it was a flaw in the team's makeup or just a bad matchup that led to yet another early exit from the playoffs.

The Nuggets were first-round flops for the fourth straight season, taken out this time by the gritty Golden State Warriors in six games.

Coach George Karl said the series was lost in Game 2, when the Warriors, despite losing All-Star David Lee to a hip injury, ended Denver's 24-game winning streak at the Pepsi Center and seized the homecourt advantage that the third-seeded Nuggets had worked so hard to attain.