Stephen Curry, Warriors hold off Nikola Jokic, eliminate Nuggets in Game 5

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

Back in the starting lineup at last, Stephen Curry took over late and brought his team back just as he has so many times during Golden State's deep postseason runs.

Curry scored 30 points in his return to the starting five and the Warriors beat Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets 102-98 on Wednesday night to win their first-round series in five games.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

It has been three years since Curry carried Golden State on a big playoff stage — like those five straight trips to the NBA Finals — but he's certainly still got it.

"Tonight was just a weird feeling because we hadn’t been there in a while," said Curry, last season’s NBA scoring champion. "We wanted it so bad, kind of made it a lot more difficult on ourselves. But we still remember how to do it, which is a good feeling."

Curry scored 11 points during the fourth quarter after the Warriors began the final 12 minutes down by eight. The two-time MVP converted a three-point play with 1:33 left and scored again with 29 seconds remaining to help send the Warriors on to the second round in the Western Conference.

"I was a witness, letting him cook, create plays for him. Try to get him open looks and after that, you know what he does," Warriors guard Gary Payton II said.

Jokic scored 12 of his 30 points in the final 3:46 and finished with 19 rebounds and eight assists.

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) is congratulated by Draymond Green (23) during a timeout in the first half of Game 5 of the team's NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets in San Francisco, Wednesday, April 27, 2022.  (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)

Th