“Ball handlers, snipers from long range… These brothers are coming” - Stephen A. Smith believes the Golden State Warriors have been the best team in the Western Conference playoffs
The Golden State Warriors' performance in their first three games of the playoffs have usurped the Phoenix Suns as the best team in the Western Conference, according to Stephen A. Smith:
"When I look at Memphis, there's been some question marks there, when I look at the Phoenix Suns, there's injury issues there. The Golden State Warriors are the team that is coming, and in today's modern day of NBA basketball, when the game is called softer and guard play is the dominant factor, show me somebody that can deal with those three."
Smith further talked about the shooting prowess of the team, spearheaded by Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole:
"Lethal Weapon 3! We got Steph, we got Klay, we got Jordan Poole, ball handlers, snipers from long range who don't miss at the free-throw line, two 92%-plus shooter. You got a third one hovering around 90%. These brothers are coming!"
The Warriors took their third straight win over the Denver Nuggets on Thursday with a 118-113 win. Jordan Poole scored 27 points shooting 69.2% from the field. Klay Thompson scored 26 points shooting 46.2% from the three-point line, and Stephen Curry chipped in with 27 points off the bench in the winning effort.
Game 4 will be played in Denver, and the series will go back and forth between San Francisco and Denver for Games 5, 6 and 7.
Can the Denver Nuggets pull off a win against the Golden State Warriors?
On their current trajectory, the Golden State Warriors are well on their way to sweeping the Denver Nuggets in the first round and moving to the conference semi-finals for the first time since 2019.
However, unlike the first two games at the Chase Center, the third game in Denver was a hard fought win for Golden State, after the Nuggets rallied back from a ten-point deficit at halftime to close the third quarter up two. Final minute heroics from Andrew Wiggins, Jordan Poole and Draymond Green pushed the Warriors past Denver, but the game on Thursday was the first time in the series Denver put up a fight on the court.
Nuggets head coach Michael Malone remarked on his team's efforts in the post-game press conference and was proud that his team had put up a fight. He also said that they planned to do the same on Sunday.
The silver-lining for the Nuggets from Game 3 will be the performance of Aaron Gordon, DeMarcus Cousins and Will Barton, who, through their efforts, at least, gave Denver a fighting chance in the third and fourth quarters. If a similar or greater effort is employed on the floor from Denver, with some luck, they could maybe get, at least, a win in this series.