DeMarcus Cousins once had a front-row seat to watch Steph Curry and Klay Thompson light up the nets for the Warriors, and the Denver Nuggets big man knows the Splash Brothers only get more lethal as the lights get brighter.
As the Nuggets prepare to face the Warriors in the first round of the NBA playoffs, Cousins knows the Hall-of-Fame shooting of Curry and Thompson means Denver has to bring its A-game every night, or the postseason experience will be short-lived.
“Obviously we’re playing the greatest shooter of all time, two of the greatest shooters of all time,” Cousins told reporters Sunday, via MileHighSports. “Constant threats on the floor from basically anywhere and they’re a well-oiled machine. They have championship DNA. They’ve been here plenty of times so we got to lace our boots up.”
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While Curry's status for Game 1 is up in the air as he recovers from a sprained foot ligament, Thompson appears to have found his groove down the stretch and Jordan Poole finished the season scoring 20 points in 18 of his last 20 games.
The Nuggets went 3-1 against the Warriors this season, but Draymond Green did not play in any of the four contests. The matchup between Green, a defensive savant, and reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic will be a huge factor in the series.
But turnovers might be the biggest factor in what should be a hotly-contested series. Since Jan. 1, Denver’s 15.1 turnovers per game rank 29th in the NBA.
“Biggest thing for us, we got to get our turnovers under control because for a team like Golden State they can capitalize on, if you have a 10-15 turnover game that can get ugly,” Cousins said. “So I would say the biggest thing right now is turnovers and we got to get our rotations down pat on the defensive end.”
Golden State Warriors
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With Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. likely out for the series against the Warriors, the Nuggets will have to rely on several players who haven't played in the postseason cauldron before. Cousins is taking it upon himself to make sure the Nuggets are as sharp as possible against a Warriors team he knows is one of the most dangerous in the NBA.
"Playoffs, every possession matters," Cousins said. "... Every small detail matters."
The Warriors and Nuggets will open their seven-game series on Saturday night at Chase Center.