The easy way to sell Monday’s Warriors-Nuggets game is Stephen Curry versus Nikola Jokić. And, sure, that’s a pretty good place to start. Put those two on a national stage and you’re bound to get a few possessions that make everyone else look like they’re playing a different sport.

But the real fun starts when the game tightens up. Who makes the right play when Curry and Jokić can’t simply take over? Which role players hold up? And which team can keep their head above water when every possession starts to feel like it matters?

Golden State visits Denver at 10 p.m. ET on Peacock in the first game of their Monday night NBA series. It’s still early, so nobody’s season will be decided here. But both teams already have questions to answer, and Denver isn’t exactly the easiest place to find them.

Two Future Hall-of-Famers Sharing the Court

The Warriors went 37-45 last season and didn’t make it out of the play-in. Curry played just 43 games, but he still averaged 26.6 points when he was on the floor. At 38, he can still turn a routine possession into a three before the defense even realizes what happened. The problem is how much Golden State needs from him while Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody work their way back from knee injuries and Kristaps Porzingis sits out with a health issue.

The first two games have shown both sides of that problem. Golden State got blown out by the Lakers in the opener, then had a 12-point lead on Memphis with less than four minutes left on Friday. After that, theyr couldn’t buy a basket. The Warriors didn’t make another field goal for the entire rest of the game, and the Grizzlies came back to win 111-108. Curry scored 24, and rookie Yaxel Lendeborg chipped in with 18 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists. That’s a pretty encouraging night from a new piece.

Denver’s issue is different. The Nuggets won 54 games last year and had the league’s top offense, then lost to Minnesota in the first round. Jokić averaged 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 10.7 assists. Jamal Murray put up a career-high 25.4 points a night. That’s enough to make anybody nervous. But Denver finished 21st on defense, and another spring ended a lot earlier than a team with this much talent wanted.

DeMar DeRozan gives Denver another veteran who can create his own shot, especially when a possession gets messy. He also changes a rotation that lost Peyton Watson, one of the team’s better perimeter defenders. In Thursday’s 96-84 opening loss to Oklahoma City, Jokić shot 5-for-19 and Murray went 2-for-11. They won't be facing the Thunder's defense every night, but that game was a reminder: even the best offense in the league can look pretty ordinary when their two-man engine starts sputtering.

Get Your Popcorn Ready

That’s what makes this matchup so fun. Curry makes you defend 30 feet from the basket, whether he’s got the ball or not. Golden State led the league in three-point attempts last season, and all that screening and passing is built around getting him — and everyone else — a clean look.

Jokić works from the opposite end. Put the ball in his hands in the middle of the floor, and he’ll make you pay for whichever choice you make: overplay him, and he’ll find a cutter; lose Murray on the handoff, and he’ll hit him; leave Jokić alone, and he’ll take care of it himself.

Draymond Green's smart and physical enough to make those reads harder. He’s also giving up a lot of size to Jokić. Without Porzingis, Golden State has to figure out how long they can survive with smaller lineups, especially if Aaron Gordon's cutting behind the defense or cleaning up misses. Denver, on the other side of the floor, has to chase Curry all over the place. A defense that ranked 21st last season can’t just assume their offense will bail them out every time.

To me, the game comes down to what each team does when the first action breaks down. Denver can go back through Jokić and Murray. Golden State needs someone besides Curry to keep the floor from getting cramped.

We’ve already seen how weird this matchup can get. In the first meeting last season, Curry scored 42, Gordon scored 50, and the Warriors won 137-131 in overtime. A year later, the names are pretty much the same, but the pressure around them feels a little different.

At home, with Jokić and Murray plus DeRozan as another late-clock option, the Nuggets have more ways to find a decent shot when the game slows down. Golden State can blow up that whole argument if Curry gets hot, but Friday’s collapse is tough to ignore. If Denver closes this one out cleanly, it’ll be an encouraging first sign that they can turn all that star power into control again.

All stats courtesy of NBA.com.

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