Aaron Gordon Ejected in Seconds as Curry Waves Him Off in Warriors Rout of Nuggets

The gesture took about two seconds, and it told the whole story of the night. Aaron Gordon was already walking off after his second technical foul in a matter of seconds, and Stephen Curry pointed at him, then pointed toward the tunnel, as if to show him the way out. Golden State was up 16, on its way to a 134-114 win, and Denver’s frustration had just found its most visible outlet.

What got Aaron Gordon ejected?

Two technical fouls in seconds, both for arguing. With the Warriors up 16 in the fourth quarter, Nuggets guard Christian Braun was whistled for a push-off on Stephen Curry before setting a screen on Brandin Podziemski. Gordon did not accept the call, protested vehemently to the officials, and picked up a first technical. When he then pointed at an official, that drew the second technical and ended his night, ClutchPoints reports. Denver Sports adds that the Braun call was his fifth foul, which explains why the whole Denver bench felt the moment so sharply. NBC Sports puts the ejection at 8:34 left in the fourth quarter, with the Warriors leading 107-91.

What did Curry do as Gordon left?

Curry waved him off, and the clip did the rest. Curry pointed at Gordon before pointing to the tunnel, essentially saying goodbye to the Nuggets forward, ClutchPoints reports. The gesture spread within minutes because it matched the night: Curry was 8-of-8 from the floor, Golden State was cruising, and Gordon was leaving a game his team was losing badly. It was not a celebration of a big shot. It was a veteran enjoying the moment a frustrated opponent lost control, and the cameras caught all of it.

How bad was Gordon’s night before the ejection?

Bad, and getting worse. Gordon finished with seven points on 2-of-10 shooting, four rebounds and two assists in about 25 minutes, NBC Sports reports. He had already shot poorly in the previous game, and Denver needed more from him with Cameron Johnson and Julian Strawther out, plus Alpha Diallo and Spencer Jones also missing, AP reports. Marvin Bagley III replaced Gordon after the ejection, but the game was gone by then. Denver had led 32-28 after one quarter and trailed by only four at halftime, Denver Sports reports, before Golden State won the third quarter 40-28 and stretched the lead to 24 in the fourth. The ejection was the visible end of a collapse, not its cause.

How good was Golden State on the night?

Good enough to make the ejection a footnote to a first win. Curry scored 24 points and finished 8-of-8 from the floor, AP reports, the first time in his career he has scored 20 or more points in a game without missing a shot. Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg had a career-high 31 points and 12 rebounds, and the Warriors avoided their first 0-4 start since 2007-08. Nikola Jokic had 19 points, seven rebounds and 11 assists before being subbed out with 3:33 remaining and Denver trailing by 21. Golden State shot 54.1 percent from the field and outrebounded Denver 50-36. The Warriors had Curry, Draymond Green and Brandin Podziemski back after they sat out the game in Phoenix, and Podziemski finished plus-33. This was not a close game that turned on a whistle. It was a blowout that ended with one.

What did the Nuggets say afterward?

The coach pointed at the whistle, and a player pointed at the scoreboard. Adelman said he thought Gordon was frustrated with the call and that the whistle had seemed inconsistent in that moment, Denver Sports reports. Adelman had already called the night bad in every way, saying Denver did not put its hands on people the way it needed to if it wanted a chance. Jamal Murray pushed back when a reporter asked whether Golden State simply played harder, saying Denver did not decide not to play hard and that the Warriors just won the game. The two answers sit side by side: a coach unhappy with the officiating, and a guard refusing to use it as an excuse. Neither answer changes the ejection, but both explain why it happened when it did.

What does the ejection mean for Denver going forward?

It means the frustration is now public, and the next game is a test of it. Gordon’s ejection will not by itself bring a fine, and none has been announced. But Denver’s start has been rough enough that a starter losing his temper in a blowout reads as a symptom, not an isolated incident. The Nuggets have now been on the wrong end of two visible officiating flashpoints in a week, after Ziaire Williams was fined $2,000 for flopping in the Lakers’ win over Utah and after Luka Doncic answered a flopper jab with 52 points in that same game. Golden State, meanwhile, has its own recent history of not knowing where its players stand, after the Warriors said they did not know where Kristaps Porzingis was. The difference on Monday night was simple: one team’s confusion stayed off the court, and the other team’s frustration walked straight into an ejection. Denver’s next game, at New Orleans on Wednesday, will show whether Monday was a bad night or the start of something worse. The recent history of ejections turning into longer stories is familiar around the league, from Cam Johnson’s ejection for an elbow on Austin Reaves to Cooper Flagg’s flagrant scare against Indiana. Gordon’s case is smaller than those, but the pattern is the same: the league watches what happens next.