Thursday, February 28, 2002 - OAKLAND, Calif. - It was a clash between two of the NBA's lottery draft pick contenders, and one lofty losing streak had to give. And the Denver Nuggets fell 110-93 to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night at The Arena. Denver dropped to 16-38, losing a season-high sixth straight game, and the Warriors improved to 16-39, ending a season-worst-tying seven-game losing streak.

Nuggets lose at Golden State last night.  110-92  Carry six game losing streak into Friday's game.  Anxious to get McDyess back into the line-up.

It's been five days since the Warriors gift-wrapped Marc Jackson and shipped him to Minnesota, and heads are still shaking. It doesn't make any sense, trading a guy who was third in the Rookie of the Year voting last season for a 35-year-old guy and 2007 second-round pick.

How in the world could Golden State general manager Garry St. Jean say yes to that offer?

Vittorio Tafur says in the Oakland Tribune that St. Jean simply ran out of poker chips.  Ownership told him they couldn't afford to take on salary that would carry over to next year, or the Warriors will be in salary cap trouble next season.

Tafur says next year's luxury tax threshold will be between $50 and $54 million, which is lower than RealGM is estimating.  

Tafur adds one of the main laments for Warriors fans: "You'd hate to think that Golden State's biggest mistake in this whole sordid affair may have been rating starting center Erick Dampier or power forward Danny Fortson higher than Jackson."