Stephen Curry delivered a perfect shooting night in Denver on Monday, October 26, 2026, going 8-for-8 from the field and scoring 24 points as the Golden State Warriors beat the Denver Nuggets 134-114 at Ball Arena for their first win of the season. Curry made all three of his three-point attempts and all five of his free throws, scored 17 of his points in a decisive third quarter, and, according to the NBA, recorded the first 20-point game of his career without missing a single field-goal attempt.
The victory also ended any talk of a nightmare start. Golden State arrived in Denver still searching for its first win and left with a 20-point road statement, avoiding what would have been the franchise's first 0-4 start since the 2007-08 season. Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg led all scorers with a career-high 31 points and 12 rebounds, Brandin Podziemski added 18 points, and the Warriors shot 54.1 percent from the field, made 22 of 44 three-pointers and outrebounded Denver 50-36.
Golden State trailed by eight points in the first quarter before finding its rhythm. The Warriors grabbed the lead early in the second quarter on two three-pointers from Georges Niang and led 60-56 at halftime, even though Curry had taken only one field-goal attempt in the first half. That patience became the story of the night. Curry scored five quick points to open the third quarter as Golden State stretched its lead to 71-60, and after Denver answered with five straight points, the Warriors responded with a 9-0 run to lead 80-65 midway through the quarter.
From there, the game never really tightened again. Golden State took a 100-84 lead into the fourth quarter, answered Denver's opening surge in the final period with another burst — Niang from deep, Curry on a layup and two free throws, Lendeborg from the line — and built a 20-point cushion. Denver trailed by 24 points in the fourth quarter and never got closer than 13. Jamal Murray's layup midway through the fourth cut the deficit to 15, but nine straight Warriors points closed the door. Jokic was substituted with 3 minutes 33 seconds remaining and Denver trailing by 21, a quiet admission that the night was over.
The box score underlined how complete the performance was. Lendeborg went 9-for-19 from the field and 12-for-13 from the free-throw line, adding six assists to his 31 points and 12 rebounds. Podziemski finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists and was a team-best plus-33. Gui Santos scored 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting, Al Horford added 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting, and Draymond Green contributed three points, seven assists and the defensive organisation that helped hold Jokic to 19 points. Golden State finished with 31 assists, a figure that reflected ball movement rather than one-man heroics, even on a night when its greatest shooter could not miss.
Context made the win more important than a single October result usually is. Golden State had rested Curry, Podziemski, Green and Horford in a loss at Phoenix on Saturday night, a decision that drew attention at the time and looked much smarter on Monday. All four returned in Denver, and the rest appeared to pay off in the second half, when the Warriors scored 74 points after halftime and Denver's defence had no answer for either Curry's movement or Lendeborg's drives.
The result also carried a small piece of franchise history. The win was Golden State's first at Ball Arena since March 2022, according to game coverage, and it prevented the club's first 0-4 start in almost two decades. Lendeborg, a rookie out of Michigan, entered the game averaging 18.7 points and 8.3 rebounds, and his 31-point night made him only the third Warriors rookie to reach 31 points, 12 rebounds and six assists in a single game. For a team trying to blend a championship core with new blood, that combination — a veteran star at his most efficient and a rookie at his most confident — is exactly the formula the Warriors hoped the early season would reveal.
Denver, by contrast, arrived with its own recent drama. The Nuggets had rallied from 23 points down to beat New Orleans 141-135 in overtime on Saturday night, a comeback that followed booing from home fans during the early deficit. Jokic had publicly admonished supporters for that reaction after the game. On Monday there was no comeback to celebrate. Some fans filed out early as the game slipped away late, and frustration boiled over for Gordon, who was assessed a double technical and left the court with 8 minutes 34 seconds remaining. Gordon finished with seven points. DeMar DeRozan led Denver with 21 points, Murray added 19 points, and Bryce Hopkins scored 13 off the bench, but Denver allowed 74 second-half points and was outrebounded by 14.
What made Curry's night historic was not the volume but the flawlessness. Twenty-four points on eight shots is a study in shot selection: three three-pointers, five free throws, and not a single wasted possession. He took only one shot in the first half, then took over the third quarter with 17 points, repeatedly finding space off screens, in transition and at the free-throw line. The NBA's own social account highlighted the milestone after the game, noting that it was the first time in Curry's career he had scored 20 or more points in a game without missing a field goal.
That efficiency matters for Golden State beyond the highlight. Curry, now in the later stage of a career that has already reshaped how the NBA plays offence, does not need 30 shots to change a game. Against Denver he changed it with eight. His gravity — the way defences bend toward him even when he does not have the ball — opened driving lanes for Lendeborg and open threes for Podziemski, Santos and Horford, who combined to shoot 12-for-14 from the field in support. When Curry is perfect, the whole offence becomes easier, and Monday was the clearest possible demonstration.
It is also worth noting what Curry did not do. He did not force the issue early, when Denver's defence was set and the Warriors were trailing. He trusted the flow, took the one first-half shot that came to him, and then attacked when Denver's rotations began to break down after halftime. That discipline is part of why the third quarter became a rout rather than a contest, and why Golden State could rest its starters late instead of surviving a close finish.
The reaction after the game centred on two themes: Curry's perfection and Lendeborg's arrival. The NBA's post captured the mood in a single line, calling Curry "perfect from the field" and listing the numbers — 24 points, 8-for-8 from the field, three three-pointers, a road win. Reuters and Associated Press coverage struck the same note, framing the win as the product of Curry's flawless night and Lendeborg's career-high performance rather than a single star carrying the team.
Denver's side of the story was quieter and more frustrated. Jokic's decision to call out home fans after Saturday's win had already put the relationship between the team and its crowd under the spotlight, and Monday's early exits from the stands told their own story. Gordon's ejection added a visible flashpoint to a night in which Denver never found a defensive answer. The Nuggets were also short-handed, missing Alpha Diallo with a wrist injury, Cameron Johnson with an ankle injury, Spencer Jones with a hamstring problem and Julian Strawther with a knee injury — absences that thinned the rotation and left little margin when Golden State's shooting caught fire.
For Golden State, the most encouraging reaction may be the simplest one: relief. A first win changes the tone of a season's opening week. Instead of answering questions about an 0-4 start, the Warriors can talk about a road win over a Western Conference rival, a rookie growing by the game, and a superstar who needed only eight shots to remind everyone who he is.
Early-season NBA games are often dismissed as too small to matter, but this one matters for three reasons. First, it validates Golden State's load-management gamble. Resting four key players in Phoenix only works if those players return fresh and win the next game; they did, emphatically. Second, it gives Lendeborg a signature performance to build on. Rookies who post 31 and 12 on the road against a contender earn trust from coaches and teammates, and trust earns minutes. Third, it reframes Curry's season. A perfect shooting night in the fourth game of the season is a reminder that his efficiency, not just his volume, remains elite.
For Denver, the loss is a warning rather than a crisis. The Nuggets remain a team built around Jokic's brilliance, and one bad defensive half does not undo that. But allowing 74 points after halftime, losing the rebounding battle by 14 and watching a game slip away at home are the kinds of habits that cost seeding in a crowded Western Conference. With several rotation players injured, Denver needs its defence to be more disciplined, not less, while it waits for reinforcements.
The wider Western Conference picture also sharpens. Golden State now heads to Minnesota on Wednesday night with momentum and a proven formula: Curry efficient, Lendeborg aggressive, Podziemski everywhere. Denver must regroup quickly, because in a conference where a handful of games can separate home-court advantage from the play-in tournament, October losses at home still count in April.
Golden State travels to Minnesota on Wednesday night, where the test will be whether Monday's shooting travels. The Warriors made 22 three-pointers against Denver; repeating anything close to that on the road would suggest the offence has genuinely clicked rather than merely caught fire for one night. Lendeborg will also face a new kind of attention: after 31 points, opposing scouts will game-plan for him, and his next performance will show how he handles that adjustment.
Denver returns home to regroup, with the injury list the first thing to watch. The returns of Johnson, Diallo, Jones or Strawther would lengthen the rotation and ease the burden on Jokic, Murray and DeRozan. The Nuggets also need a defensive response — fewer open threes, better rebounding, and no repeat of the second-half collapse that turned a four-point halftime deficit into a 20-point loss. Gordon's ejection will also be worth monitoring; the Nuggets need his energy without the technicals that cost them his presence in the fourth quarter.
For Curry, the next milestone is less dramatic but no less interesting: can he sustain this efficiency over a full week? A perfect night is rare precisely because it is hard to repeat. Even a near-perfect follow-up in Minnesota would confirm that Monday was not an outlier but a sign of a player in complete control of his game.
Curry scored 24 points on a perfect 8-for-8 from the field, including 3-for-3 from three-point range and 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. He added three rebounds, three assists and two steals in 26 minutes 35 seconds, scoring 17 points in the third quarter and 21 after halftime.
Golden State won 134-114 at Ball Arena in Denver on Monday, October 26, 2026. It was the Warriors' first win of the 2026-27 NBA season.
Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg led all scorers with a career-high 31 points, adding 12 rebounds and six assists. Curry was second for Golden State with 24 points, followed by Brandin Podziemski with 18.
Gordon was assessed two technical fouls in the fourth quarter and was ejected with 8 minutes 34 seconds remaining. He finished the game with seven points.
The Warriors travel to Minnesota on Wednesday night. Denver will look to regroup at home, with the fitness of several injured rotation players — including Cameron Johnson and Alpha Diallo — key to its next outing.
Related coverage on US News Pulse: Thunder beat Suns 125-114 as Mitchell's career-high 30 keeps OKC perfect at 4-0, Brewers rout Rays 10-1 in World Series Game 3, and Cowboys beat Eagles 38-21 in Monday Night Football rout.
Leave a Comment
| Today's Date:
