SAN FRANCISCO — Aaron Gordon's tenth and final 3-pointer Thursday night at Chase Center felt like the final dagger. With 26 seconds left in regulation, the visiting Denver Nuggets took a three-second lead, capping a career night for the 12-year forward.
But the biggest perimeter fireworks of Gordon's life happened to come against the greatest shooter of all time.
Five seconds later, after the timeout, Stephen Curry completed a semi-confronted 34-foot shot under a screen to tie the score. Five minutes later, Curry hit another three-pointer to kick off overtime and made two free throws. The Golden State Warriors won 137-131, overshadowing Gordon's 50-point masterpiece.
“The bigger the moment, the more he rises,” Draymond Green said of Curry. “He was a quiet guy … but he loved the show. Any time there was a show coming on, he would do it.”
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Gordon's statistics are jaw-dropping: 17 of 21 shooting, 10 of 11 three-pointers and 50 points. He hit eight consecutive three-pointers in the opening game, one point shy of the NBA record.
“Ridiculous,” Curry said. “Whatever he did this summer, it worked.”
Two seasons ago, Gordon averaged 1.9 three-pointers per game and shot only 29% from the field. He made a significant leap last season, averaging 3.4 points per game and shooting 43.6% from the field.
But Thursday night was a completely different story. Gordon has never made more than seven 3-pointers in a game. Against the Warriors, he became the 17th player in history to hit 10 three-pointers in a loss. This has happened to Curry seven times and no other player more than once.
This time, Curry put aside this special night with disappointment. Curry made 14 of 25 shots, hit six three-pointers, and scored 42 points, his second-highest score in 17 home openers. Against the Nuggets, the Warriors struggled when he was off the floor but won the game by 15 points when he was on the court.
“He scored a late shot to tie the game [of regulation]it’s a shot that only he can make,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said.
The Warriors' biggest strategic choice of the night came late in the fourth quarter. During the timeout, assistant coaches Terry Stotts and Chris DeMarco suggested to head coach Steve Kerr that he deploy a larger lineup consisting of Curry, Jimmy Butler, Jonathan Kuminga, Green and newly acquired Al Horford.
It's a giant group of five (by Warriors standards), and Kerr said he didn't even think about using it during training camp. They never even practiced together.
“Where are we going to score?” Kerr said. “That's my biggest concern. Can we execute [offensively]? but [Stotts and DeMarco] Reminds me that we have Steph and Jimmy and they're going to find a way to score. “
For the typically undersized Warriors, using a larger lineup allows them to mesh better defensively, especially with Horford's ability to switch at center and Kuminga's continued growth as a two-way wing heading into his fifth season.
“It’s really fun to watch a team that has never played together play a close game against one of the best teams in the league,” Kerr said.
This five-man group erased the Nuggets' seven-point lead in the final 3 minutes and 50 seconds of regulation and defeated the Nuggets by six points in overtime.
“I did it [previously] I think this has the potential to be the final lineup,” Green said. “Or the starting lineup. Or the middle of the lineup for the game. “
The win moved the Braves to 2-0, building some early momentum as they try to establish themselves as a legitimate contender in the Denver Conference. The Nuggets (0-1) return home to face the Suns on Saturday night.