DENVER — The Denver Nuggets face a tall task.
So tall, in fact, that no team in NBA history has been able to accomplish what's at hand.
Denver is now staring at a 3-0 series deficit to Golden State after a 118-113 loss to the Warriors at Ball Arena on Thursday night -- a hole no team has climbed out of before to win a playoff series.
Unlike the first two games of the series on Golden State's home floor, the Nuggets made a run at a victory in front of a packed crowd at Ball Arena.
Denver grabbed a late lead with just 3 minutes left when Nikola Jokic drove to score and put his team up 111-109. From there, however, the Nuggets allowed the Warriors to pour in nine points while coming up short with their response attempts.
"Offensively, down the stretch, I feel like we could have worked for better looks," Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said after the game.
Nuggets star Nikola Jokic led all scorers with a game-high 37 points.
The Warriors were again led by the triple threat of Steph Curry (27 points), Jordan Poole (27) and Klay Thompson (26). As a team, Golden State knocked down 18 of its 40 3-point attempts.
Denver is now one game away from being swept out of the NBA playoffs after posting a 48-win campaign over the regular season. Game Four is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. (MT) on Sunday at Ball Arena.
"We gave ourselves a chance tonight. We didn't do that in Golden State," Malone said. " I love how we fought tonight...We couldn't get it done."
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