The Denver Nuggets staved off elimination last night on their home court, turning back the Golden State Warriors 107-100, and ticking off the Warriors with some physical play, that Warriors coach Mark Jackson said was dirty.
"Some dirty plays early," Jackson said. "It's playoff basketball. That's all right. We own it. But make no mistake about it, we went up 3-1 playing hard, physical, clean basketball -- not trying to hurt anybody." Jackson also singled out Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried, saying he set "great screens and some great illegal ones, too."
Stephen Curry, who has lit up the Denver Nuggets throughout the first round of the NBA playoffs, let his frustration get the better of him after the Game 5 loss Tuesday night.
Curry finally cooled off a bit in the thin Denver air, scoring just 15 points on 7-of-19 shooting in the Warriors loss. On his way back to the locker room, Curry confronted a zealous fan who was heckling him, engaging in what appeared to be a heated argument.
Blogger Tim Kawakami tweeted Curry's explanation of the exchange; it read, Curry also confirmed he had a brief exchange with a fan. "Somebody said something dumb and I just told him to be quiet, that was it."
Curry could have been frustrated about the Nuggets physicality and let that anger loose on the heckler. Jackson was vocal about the Nuggets trying to hurt Curry's ankle further. He said one screen was "a shot at his ankle, clearly. That can't be debated. I got inside information that some people don't like that brand of basketball and they clearly didn't co-sign it. They wanted to let me know they have no parts in what was taking place. Let the best team win. And let everybody with the exception of going down with a freak injury, let everybody leave out of here healthy. That's not good basketball."
Faried defended himself, saying, "It's basketball," countered Faried. "I try to do the little things my team needs me to do. It's physical. If you can't stand the physicality, you shouldn't be playing."
Faried posted a double-double in the win, so whatever he's doing is working. He scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while guard Andre Iguodala had his best game of the series, leading Denver with 25 points and 12 rebounds, while contributing seven assists.
Iguodala also refuted claims of dirty play, saying he was the recipient of the hardest hit of the series, a shot from Andrew Bogut on a screen. "I think they kind of brought the physicality to the series. And we stopped being the receivers and we're starting to hit back a little bit. But as far as anybody trying to cheap shot, I don't condone that myself. It's not my game."
See video of Curry's verbal altercation with a Nuggets fan here.
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