Golden State tops Nuggets, 92-88, to move on to the second round

Draymond Green threw his arms in the air and ran to Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson for an emotional hug. Jarrett Jack squatted down, put his right hand on his head and closed his eyes. Stephen Curry wanted to see it all - the gold confetti in the air and the smiles all around the announced sellout crowd of 19,596.

Forget that "We Believe" team.

These Warriors proved they belong.

Curry had 22 points and eight assists, Andrew Bogut broke out with the best performance of his injury-saddled season and the Warriors eliminated the Denver Nuggets with a 92-88 victory in Game 6 on Thursday night.

"When we go in the locker room, we're jumping up and down, we're hugging, we're changed men," Jackson said. "This is the greatest group of men as far as a team that I've ever been around or seen in my life."

Bogut had season-bests and career-playoff highs of 14 points and 21 rebounds, and Green added a career-high 16 points and 10 rebounds to power Golden State into the second round for the first time in six years.

Bogut became the first Warriors player with 20 rebounds in the playoffs since Larry Smith had 23 on May 12, 1987 at the Lakers.

"It's very emotional for me because I've had a nightmare of a year," said Bogut, who added four blocks and three assists in an unforgettable performance after rehabilitating his left ankle most of the year.

The Warriors went ahead by 18 points early in the fourth quarter before holding off one final Nuggets flurry.

Andre Iguodala scored 24 points and Ty Lawson had 17 in another disappointing early exit for Denver, which has lost in the first round nine of the past 10 seasons. The Nuggets won 23 of their final 26 regular season games to earn the Western Conference's third seed, then lost four of six to the hot-shooting Warriors.

"We didn't lose this series tonight. This is a proud loss," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "We lost this series in Game 1 and 2. We didn't play well enough to sustain the confidence. We won Game 1 on a last-second layup. In Game 2, we gave away everything we worked for with 57 wins in the season. And that's on me."

(China Daily 05/04/2013 page16)