What we learned as Warriors fall flat in fourth quarter during loss to Nuggets

A quick trip to Denver snapped the Warriors’ three-game win streak Sunday night in a 116-93 loss against the Nuggets at Ball Arena. The Warriors led by seven points at halftime, only to then be outscored by 30 points, 70-40, in the second half. That’s where so many injuries hurt the Warriors most. And the fact that the Dallas Mavericks, Brooklyn Nets and Washington Wizards, the three previous teams the Warriors beat, might as well be in a different league than the Nuggets.Kristaps Porziis and Brandin Podziemski each scored 23 points to lead the Warriors in scoring. Draymond Green (13 points) and Gary Payton II (16 points) also reached double digits for the Warriors. On the other side, four of the Nuggets’ five starters, plus two players off the bench, scored 10 or more points.After containing him early on, Nikola Joki still finished the game scoring 25 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. He also fell two assists shy of triple-double. Joki now has 50 double-doubles this season. While the Warriors continue to wait for Steph Curry’s return, they struggled to shoot from long distance and went just 14 of 42 (33.3 percent) from 3-point range. The Nuggets made five more threes than them for a 15-point advantage. Here are three takeaways from a loss that dropped the Warriors to 36-39. Porziis Meets The Moment In 10 games now with the Warriors, Porziis has a 30-point game and a 28-point game, and both were against the Wizards. His 22-point game came against the lowly Mavericks, and he needed overtime to reach 20 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Playing Joki and the Nuggets was a new test for Porziis. The biggest one yet, perhaps. It’s safe to say the big man stepped up yet again. Yes, Joki got his. But so did Porziis. KP caps off a 16-2 run with a DEEP triple pic.twitter.com/MZWJbiQw3l — Warriors on NBCS (&commat;NBCSWarriors) March 30, 2026 He started the game strong and made two threes in the first quarter to give the Warriors an early lead. Porziis then scored eight points in the second quarter to bring him 14 first-half points as a plus-6 in a battle with the three-time NBA MVP. The Warriors fell flat in the third quarter, but Porziis still scored nine of their 20 points. It would have taken a miracle for him to will the Warriors to a win in the fourth. The Warriors went from leading by seven at the end of the first half to trailing by 12 at the start of the fourth quarter. Still, all the ways Porziis changes the game at over 7-foot tall was on display in a game where he went 8 of 12 from the field and was a perfect 5 of 5 on threes. BP’s Learning Lesson For the Warriors, this was the BP and KP show, plus DG (Draymond Green) making his presence felt as well. However, a sequence where Podziemski missed Porziis badly shifted the game in the Nuggets’ favor. The score was tied 69-69 in the third quarter when Podziemski decided it was him against the world. Not a good choice. Standing at the right wing and throwing his hands up was a wide-open Porziis who couldn’t miss from deep. The play should have been finding him for three more points. The result was Podziemski dribbling and forcing a runner that fell short. Christian Braun took it the other way for a finger roll before a Tim Hardaway three caused a Warriors timeout from a five-point swing in favor of the Nuggets. Porzingis was PISSED at Podz for not passing him the ball WIDE OPEN… Steve Kerr even yelled at Podz: "PASS THE BALL&excl;" pic.twitter.com/YxKGZYQyWh — BrickCenter (&commat;BrickCenter&lowbar;) March 30, 2026 All the momentum was lost for the Warriors. Porziis was visibly annoyed and coach Steve Kerr was irate on the sidelines. Podziemski wrapped up a very strong March, but it’s those types of lapses that still show the growing pains he must learn from and get over.Melton’s Donut Braun, the Nuggets’ starting shooting guard, gave Denver 12 points as a game-high plus-17. De’Anthony Melton, the Warriors’ starting shooting guard, gave Golden State a big fat donut. In fact, it was his second donut in his past three games. Oh, and he was a game-low minus-29.Melton was scoreless in 25 minutes on five shot attempts, including three beyond the arc. Watching him was as rough as his box score. Melton offensively looks like someone who is uncomfortable and has lost confidence. Playing without Curry and Jimmy Butler puts him in a role he isn’t suited for and it’s showing. The veteran had four 20-point games in March, but the overall numbers weren’t pretty. Though he averaged 13.1 points, Melton did so shooting 39 percent overall and 25 percent from 3-point range. His offseason is about to be fascinating, and Melton needs a strong finish to these final seven regular-season games to ease the pressure he appears to be feeling.Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast

What we learned as Warriors fall flat in fourth quarter during loss to Nuggets

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