The Golden State Warriors have come crashing down to Earth after their red-hot start to the 2025-26 season. The Denver Nuggets blew out the Warriors 129-104 at Ball Arena on Friday in the NBA Cup, handing them their fourth loss in five games. The visitors struggled mightily on the defensive end, and Draymond Green took responsibility for it postgame.
“I’ve failed,” Green said, via Dalton Johnson. “When our defense looks as s****y as it does, I have failed. So, send as many messages as you want to, but until we do it, I’m failing there.”
The Nuggets went 46-82 (56.0%) from the field and 16-33 (48.5%) from beyond the arc against the Warriors. With Stephen Curry out, they needed a great defensive performance to stand any chance of winning, and it was an awful display on that end of the floor.
The Warriors had absolutely no answers for Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray on the night. Jokic had 26 points on 12-15 shooting from the field, while Murray put up 23 points on 8-12 shooting. The Serb didn’t even have to play in the fourth quarter, and it was a rather comfortable night for the Nuggets.
This was the second game in a row where the Warriors allowed their opponents to hit the 120-point mark. The Sacramento Kings got to 121 on Wednesday, and the ease with which teams are racking up points is concerning. Green spoke about what has been going wrong for the Warriors on defense lately.
“You got to take the personal challenge to guard your man,” Green said. “Then if you get beat, there’s help. I think right now we’re just relying on the help to be there. If you can’t give effort, then help can’t get there. So starts individually, everybody must take the challenge individually of guarding their man and then you build off from there.”
The Warriors gave up at least 30 points in every single quarter against the Nuggets. There were nothing positive really to take from this one.
The Warriors now have a 114.2 defensive rating, which ranks 16th in the NBA. Green has been preaching about how important a good defense is to win championships, and they’re just average at this point. Significant improvement is needed.
As for the offensive end, well, Green being the Warriors’ leading scorer against the Nuggets tells you all you need to know. The 35-year-old finished with 17 points (6-12 FG), six rebounds, four assists, one steal, and one block on the night.
Green went an impressive 5-10 from beyond the arc, but he was one of the few Warriors who had it going from three. They went 12-41 (29.3%) from three as a team, and certainly missed Curry in that aspect. You’d imagine the two-time MVP, who has now missed two games in a row, will be back soon, as he’s only dealing with an illness.
With this loss, the Warriors have dropped to 5-5. They looked like one of the best teams in the NBA when they started 4-1, but have gone 1-4 since.
The Warriors will look to arrest this slide when they take on the Indiana Pacers at Chase Center on Sunday at 8:30 PM ET.
