As the Golden State Warriors welcomed back Stephen Curry for the first time in over a month, coach Steve Kerr decided to put him in the second unit in Game 1 of their series against the Denver Nuggets. He only played over 20 minutes in the inaugural contest, but the Warriors triumphed over the Nuggets, 123-107. Jordan Poole led the charge with 30 points, while Klay Thompson added 19 points and five long range bombs.

Nikola Jokic still tallied impressive numbers of 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists, but the Warriors defense forced him to attempt 25 shots and just two free throw attempts. Without Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr., Jokic lacked the reliable supporting cast both offensively and defensively. Despite the subpar performance of Curry, this was the perfect game for him to get into rhythm as Kerr had a magnificent rotation that propelled the Warriors to the win. With that, here are a few reasons for them to build on this Game 1 performance.

Warriors-Nuggets Game 1 Takes

Balanced scoring across the board

Even if the Warriors began their regular season campaign on an impeccable note, Curry had trouble replicating his phenomenal offensive numbers every night. Defenses would scout him tremendously as others failed to capitalize on a plethora of open looks created by Curry. That was not the case for Game 1 as Golden State had five individuals recording double digit outputs.

Andrew Wiggins snapped out of his slump over the past weeks as he was able to chip in 16 points, nine rebounds, and more importantly the superb perimeter defense. Draymond Green's role is usually focused on the defensive side of the floor, but he added 12 points, highlighted by a circus three-pointer that left Kerr just smiling from the sidelines. For the Warriors to go as far as the finals, other guys must step to the plate and not just rely on the three-headed monster of Curry, Thompson, and Poole.

Selfless dish-offs from the whole squad

Despite missing the playoffs for the last two seasons, the success of the dynasty of the Warriors has been predicated on their ability to share the rock and confuse opponents with their non-stop movement on and off the ball. That was the case for this match as well as they tallied an excellent 33 assists compared to the 26 of the Nuggets.

The high assists total was led by Green's nine along with three other athletes who had four dish-offs, respectively. Compared to Denver who relies heavily on the shot creation of Jokic, almost all the rotational pieces of the Warriors can swing the ball around and create offense for others. Furthermore, the sensational selflessness culture of Golden State could also be seen on defense through their admirable communication.

Unstoppable conversions from rainbow country

For a team that has the two best shooters in NBA History, it is imperative for them to have an edge at that department every night. If any franchise can somehow limit or mitigate the scintillating effect on their momentum and rhythm, that would give them a realistic chance of upsetting the Warriors. 16 conversions from long range resulted to an instant 48 of the 123 points of Golden State.

16 seems like an incredible number already for any NBA-caliber team, but coach Michael Malone must consider that Curry only converted three of his shots from downtown. For a legendary marksman like Curry, that could easily elevate to six or seven when he finds his groove and close to his peak level. Thus, Malone and the Nuggets must construct a game plan that would possibly limit it to closer than 10 a game on a lowly percentage for the Nuggets to have some sort of chance in this series.

It is just the first game of the playoffs, but the Warriors showcased a masterful display both offensively and defensively against an experienced Nuggets squad. If Denver gets blown out once again in Game 2 with all the momentum on the Warriors side, this series will likely be a wrap in four or five games as Golden State will head to the Western Conference Semifinals.