The winless Golden State Warriors visit the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena in the early hours of Tuesday, as they try to avoid an 0-4 start after the first 0-3 opening of Stephen Curry's career.

Denver recovered from 23 points down to beat New Orleans 141-135 in overtime on Saturday, while Golden State lost 131-122 at Phoenix on the second night of a back-to-back.

Golden State Warriors vs. Denver Nuggets form guide and outlook

Golden State opened with a 105-127 defeat at the Los Angeles Lakers on October 21 and then lost 108-111 at home to Memphis, a game in which they led by 12 inside the final four minutes.

Saturday's 122-131 loss at Phoenix, where Devin Booker scored 43 points, was their third game in four days and left them 15th in the Western Conference standings and 0-3 for the first time in 19 years.

Denver began with a 96-84 defeat at Oklahoma City on October 22, where Aaron Gordon scored 20 points and Nikola Jokic and DeMar DeRozan managed 13 each, even though Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shot only 6-of-19 for the Thunder.

New Orleans shot 65.9% in the first half and led by as many as 23, but Jamal Murray scored 42 points and Jokic recorded 35 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in a 199th career triple-double.

Denver's clearest advantage is on the glass, where they average 52.0 rebounds against 40.3 for Golden State.

Golden State's edge lies in ball movement and shooting, with more assists per game and a better three-point percentage than Denver, though both samples cover no more than three games.

Defence separates them more, since Denver concede far fewer points per game and the Warriors have allowed 129.0 across their two road games.

The read is that Golden State can shoot their way into a game but have not shown how to contain a side that dominates the boards, which is why Denver are the team to back.

Team news and rotations for Warriors vs. Nuggets

Golden State's availability is the main unknown, since Brandin Podziemski, Draymond Green, Al Horford and Curry all missed Saturday's game at Phoenix and Gui Santos left it with an undisclosed injury.

Steve Kerr started Curry, Podziemski, Green, Yaxel Lendeborg and Graham Ike against Memphis, then paired the two rookies with Brandon Williams, Will Richard and Santos at Phoenix.

Kristaps Porzingis is out with an illness and away from the team, while Moses Moody, who ruptured his left patellar tendon in March, could return in December or January and Jimmy Butler, recovering from a torn right ACL, in January or February.

Denver are without Cameron Johnson, Alpha Diallo, Spencer Jones and Julian Strawther, whose knee sprain came in the October 14 preseason game. Both clubs are back on court on Wednesday, with the NBA schedule sending Golden State to Minnesota and Denver to New Orleans.

Warriors vs. Nuggets key matchups that could decide it

Graham Ike went undrafted out of Gonzaga and has started at centre in Golden State's last two games, so he meets Jokic, who scored eight of his points in overtime on Saturday, with a very small sample behind him.

Lendeborg, the 11th pick in the 2026 draft, scored 26 points with six threes at Phoenix and De'Anthony Melton added 25, while Murray carried Denver in overtime, so whichever scorer cools first could decide how close the second half stays.

Golden State Warriors vs. Denver Nuggets player props

The Jokic pick rests on a mismatch at centre, while the Lendeborg pick rests on usage, since he has become Golden State's first scoring option with so many rotation players missing.

Neither line asks either player to repeat a career night, which matters given how small the 2026-27 samples are and how much rotation uncertainty surrounds Golden State, with the Lendeborg line sitting just below his pre-season scoring average.

Warriors vs. Nuggets head-to-head and recent meetings

Last season's series finished 2-2 and the home team won all four meetings, with Golden State taking 137-131 in overtime on October 23, 2025 and 128-117 on February 22, and Denver winning 129-104 on November 7 and 116-93 on March 29.

Denver's two home wins came by 25 and 23 points, which is the strongest evidence in the series for a comfortable Nuggets win in Denver.

Last season's records show the same gap at 54-28 for Denver and 37-45 for Golden State, and Denver also won 119-115 at home on December 3, 2024 and 114-105 in San Francisco on March 17, 2025.

Golden State Warriors vs. Denver Nuggets prediction and tips

Denver's rebounding edge and Golden State's road defence point to a Nuggets win, and the visitors' habit of conceding big scores points to a total above 230.

Our prediction is a 124-112 Nuggets win, built on Jokic controlling the interior and a thin Golden State rotation running short of answers in the second half.