Warriors take accountability for foul issues in Game 4 loss

The box score doesn't always tell the whole story. That rang true Sunday with two key categories following the Warriors' 126-121 Game 4 loss to the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena as Golden State couldn't complete a first-round sweep in the NBA playoffs.

Denver wound up with four more fouls called against them, and took just four more free throws than the Warriors. Those numbers sure feel off, whether you were in the arena or watching from home.

"It was tough, because when you look at it on the stat sheet, they only had four more free throws and they actually had four more fouls but it's the type of fouls we committed that are kind of bone-headed, killed the momentum, especially when they were making a bunch of threes on top of bad fouls and free throws," Steph Curry said.

"It's just really hard to get over the hump, and over the course of the game on the road with a team playing as desperate as they were, it leads to a tough night."

With Curry coming off the bench for the fourth straight game, Klay Thompson took the reins as the Warriors' go-to scorer early on and throughout the day. Thompson scored eight quick points to give the Warriors a 13-6 lead. Just like that, though, he was forced to the bench at the 8:14 mark, which had a domino effect on more than just himself. He committed his first foul within the first minute and drew another whistle not even three minutes later.

The Warriors' hot-hand was out for the rest of the quarter and Curry was rushed to the floor earlier than he anticipated. He missed his first five shots, the Warriors scored only 21 points in the first quarter and trailed by five as they failed to find any rhythm with Thompson stuck to the bench.

"That's on me," Thompson said. "I started off the game with two quick fouls, I gotta be smarter than that -- especially with my experience."

In the second quarter, Klay made the only shot attempt he took but again had two more fouls to his name, giving him four going into the second half with the Warriors trailing by 11. After being called for his third foul, Thompson sat for over six minutes until coming back into the game with 0.6 seconds left in the first half. The Warriors' offense clearly missed one half of the Splash Brothers. Steve Kerr brought him back with hopes of getting a quick bucket, and that looked to be the case before yet another whistle was blown Klay's way.

From the outside, the call looked extremely ticky-tacky and soft, to put it lightly. Instead of using the refs as an excuse, Thompson took it upon himself for trying to get away with a fast one.

As the Warriors went into halftime down by double-digits, they had been called for only one more foul than the Nuggets but Denver had attempted nine more free throws.