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Faried's late bucket helps Nuggets edge Warriors

Apr 11, 2014 - 7:16 AM Oakland, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Timofey Mozgov had the game of his life, but it was his frontcourt mate Kenneth Faried that won it for Denver.

Mozgov scored 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting and grabbed 29 rebounds, shattering his previous career-high of 20, while Faried's turn-around jumper with less than a second remaining lifted the Nuggets to a 100-99 win over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.

Denver led by a point late when Stephen Curry split a double-team and exploded past two defenders before absorbing contact from Faried and getting a floater to go to give the Warriors a 99-98 lead with 5.8 seconds to play.

Denver inbounded to Faried at the elbow out of its timeout and let him go to work. Faried muscled his way to the block and converted with 0.5 seconds showing. Curry's 30-foot heave fell just short as the buzzer sounded.

"I was able to just spin off (the defender) and I saw a clear opening for the shot that I wanted," Faried said of the go-ahead bucket.

Faried finished with 18 points and 17 boards and Randy Foye scored 20 with seven rebounds and seven assists in Denver's second straight win.

Golden State, which currently sits in sixth place in the Western Conference two games ahead of ninth place Memphis, could have clinched its second straight postseason berth with a win.

"There are a lot of reasons why this is a terrible feeling in the locker room," Curry said of his team failing to clinch a playoff spot. "We could have taken care of a playoff spot, taken care of home court like we need to, going forward, in the playoffs. I don't know if I'd call it a setback, but it's definitely not how we envisioned the night going."

Curry had 12 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, and Klay Thompson donated 21 points in the setback.

Denver never led in the game until early in the fourth quarter, when Darrell Arthur stepped into a 3-pointer from the right wing to cap an 8-0 flurry.

Harrison Barnes' trey tied it at 85-85, but Mozgov's layup after his eighth offensive rebound of the contest put Denver back in front. Evan Fournier followed with 1-of-2 from the stripe and a short jumper to make it 90-85.

The Warriors responded, however, netting eight straight to go back in front.

Denver looked to have lost its mojo late in the fourth, but Foye slashed to the rim for a difficult layup then stripped Thompson and drained a corner 3. Faried's putback layup out of a timeout made it 97-93 with 1:13 left.

Curry worked his way to the line twice in the final minute, hitting all four free throws, and Faried split a pair before Curry's floater in the final seconds.

Earlier, Golden State jumped out to a 28-15 lead after the Nuggets shot just 7-of-29 in the opening period. It was 53-43 at halftime.

Game Notes

Mozgov's 29 rebounds are the most by any player in a game this season. Dwight Howard had 26 boards on Oct. 30 against Charlotte ... Denver won the rebounding margin, 63-38, grabbing 25 offensive boards as a team to Golden State's six ... The Nuggets dressed just nine players and played only eight ... Warriors forward David Lee (hamstring) missed his sixth straight game. He is questionable to return for the postseason ... Jermaine O'Neal and Jordan Crawford scored 12 and 10 points, respectively, in reserve roles for the Warriors.