Denver Nuggets 89, Golden State Warriors 86: Three Takeaways

It isn’t always pretty, but it was effective. The Denver Nuggets used lockdown defense and a game-saving block from reigning MVP Nikola Joki\u0107 to pull out an 89-86 road win over the Golden State Warriors Tuesday night. Despite shooting 41.2 percent from the field, the Mile High squad forced 18 turnovers and withstood a cold shooting streak on offense in the second half to head back to Denver with the victory.

Denver used active defense to build an early 12-4 lead through the first four minutes of action. The Nuggets forced four turnovers during that early stretch and hit five of their first eight shot attempts. With Will Barton catching fire on the offensive end, Denver continued to take…