Curry leads Golden State past Denver

Basketball Betting Lines

02/09/2012 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stephen Curry poured in 36 points, including six treys, as Golden State downed slumping Denver, 109-101, at Pepsi Center.

Klay Thompson added 19 points off the bench, Dorell Wright had 15 points and Monta Ellis, one game after scoring a career-best 48 points, donated 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting. David Lee also reached double figures with 12 points and eight rebounds for Golden State, which snapped a two-game skid.

Aaron Afflalo led the way for the home team with 26 points, while Nene added 15 points and Ty Lawson chipped in with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Al Harrington also scored 11 and Kenneth Faried posted eight points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, who have dropped five in a row with four of those coming at home.

The Nuggets have Afflalo and Nene back in the fold from injuries, but are still missing leading scorer Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov and Corey Brewer.

The two teams traded blows in the first quarter with Curry's three pulling the visitors within 28-27 after one period. Golden State started the second quarter strong, taking a lead as large as 39-31 on the heels on a Rush three and Thompson jumper.

The Nuggets responded with the next eight points capped by Harrington's trey for a one-point advantage, and the score stayed close for the remainder of the half. Nene's slam in the closing seconds gave the home team a 51-47 margin at halftime.

Denver lost control of the game in the third as Golden State scored at will and held Denver in check. Curry and Wright drained back-to-back threes and Ellis connected on a tough fadeaway to cap eight straight points for a 61-53 game. After an Afflalo trey, Golden State scored the next 10 points, putting a stamp on an 18-3 scoring stretch with Curry's three-pointer for a 71-56 lead.

Afflalo was the only Nugget to score for nearly six minutes, but Denver hung around with Lawson's layup drawing the Nuggets within 71-63. The Denver defense, however, had no answer for the Warriors, who pushed out to an 80-65 lead on Nate Robinson's fadeaway jumper nearing the one-minute mark. Golden State took an 84-71 lead into the fourth period.

It didn't get better from there for the Nuggets. Lee rattled off a pair of buckets at one point for a 98-80 game, and Denver never seriously threatened throughout the final stanza.

Game Notes

Golden State had lost 10 of the last 12 matchups with Denver prior to Thursday's win...The Warriors also snapped a six-game skid in Denver....Denver made 43.5 percent of its shots, while Golden State made 51.9 percent of its attempts and 13 three-pointers....Afflalo was 5-of-8 from long distance, while the rest of the Nuggets were 4-of-16.

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Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

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