Golden State Warriors take Denver Nuggets' best punch, grab 3-0 series lead

DENVER — Ahead of Thursday night's Game 3, Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone vowed to «go down swinging» in the NBA playoffs against the Golden State Warriors while trying to find some fight within his team.

The Nuggets, after being pummeled in the first two games of the first round, showed the most fight and life they've had all series, and yet it wasn't enough as the Warriors squeaked out a 118-113 victory in Denver to go up 3-0 in the series.

«You have to feel this kind of adversity and pressure on the road,» Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. «You've got to execute. It's good for our team to have this experience and come through because we are going to be feeling it again, especially on the road.»

Added Draymond Green: «When a team is down 2-0, they come out and give you everything they got in that Game 3. If you are able to take that punch and come out with a win, you go out in Game 4 and you got to take a punch or two, but you set yourself up well.»

There were several plays that could qualify as the game-sealing play for Golden State on Thursday night.

With 34.7 seconds left and the Warriors up five, Green forced Nikola Jokic into his fifth turnover of the night — the fourth forced by Green — when he tipped the ball from Jokic's grip as the reigning MVP tried backing him down.

«On the first dribble when he hit me, I felt like I still had good inside positioning,» Green said. «And then he took the second one and it was far away from his body. I'm already thinking right there, 'If he takes on more dribble, I'm stabbing at it.'»

At that moment, Green had five fouls. When asked if that made him nervous, Kerr said, «Yeah. But I'm not going to take him out.»

Green said he didn't hesitate to go for the steal and risk