When rookie forward Harrison Barnes drove the lane and dunked it backwards over Nuggets forward Anthony Randolph, Golden State’s bench went crazy in celebration. Warriors forward David Lee, on the bench in a blazer, wanted to join them. But with his torn right hip flexor, which has knocked him out for the rest of the playoffs, he had to be very careful with his celebration.

LEE: “I had to wait an extra second to stand up. I had to let the traffic clear out, then I stood up and cheered.”

It’s killing Lee to not be out there. But he said it didn’t bother him at all watching the performance his teammates put together in Tuesday’s improbable win at Denver, the Nuggets first home loss in more than four months.

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For the second consecutive game, the Warriors went into the locker room with a lead. This time, however, it seemed far more improbable.

With All-Star forward David Lee out with a torn right hip flexor, Warriors coach Mark Jackson threw a curveball and started back-up guard Jarrett Jack in his place. The decision to go small ball paid off as the Warriors torched the Nuggets defense.

The Warriors shot 61 percent in the first half to take a 61-53 lead into the locker room, beating Denver at its own game.

Point guard Stephen Curry, who was 7 of 20 in Game 1, got off to another rough start. He missed five of his first six shots. With Denver paying special attention to him, he started off distributing. Instead of staying behind the 3-point line, he split the double-team off the pick-and-roll and got into the lane. When the defense collapsed, he moved the ball, and his teammates knocked down shots. Thompson hit his first four. Rookie forward Drayond Green and veteran forward Richard Jefferson hit 3s off Curry’s drive-and-kick.

Eventually, Curry found a rhythm and took over the game. He scored 15 points on 7 of 10 shooting in the second quarter. His jumper with 2:52 put Golden State up 56-45.

Curry finished with half with 17 points on 8 of 15 shooting with seven assists.

Already minus their starting power forward, the Warriors will have just a fraction of their back-up center. Festus Ezeli is playing through a sprained right knee. As a result, he has to wear a bulky brace which is limiting his mobility and explosiveness.

However, coach Mark Jackson may not have a choice but to play the limited Ezeli in Game 2 at the Pepsi Center. With forward David Lee out with a torn right hip flexor, the Warriors may need the rookie out of Vanderbilt to eat up minutes. Ezeli said he’s ready.

“My leg ain’t broke,” he said with a smile before the game.

Ezeli sprained the knee in the season finale at Portland last Wednesday. He only played six minutes in Game 1, partly because he wasn’t moving well (and because starting center Andrew Bogut was lights out.

Ezeli hasn’t been cleared to play without the brace so he has less than his usual mobility and explosiveness.  He said the brace slows him down and limits his jumping. It’s a sleeve with a metal fixtures designed to hold his knee in place.

Still, Ezeli said he’s ready to bang with Nuggets’ Kenneth Faried, a relentless power forward known as “The Manimal.” How will he hang with one of the most energetic and physical bigs in the playoffs?

When asked, Ezeli didn’t saw a word. Just tapped the left side of his chest.

If Jackson doesn’t play Ezeli, or pulls him early if he doesn’t like his movement, that could mean minutes for veteran back-up Andris Biedrins. He’s been dealing with back pain.

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Jackson has been playing the underdog card since he arrived in Denver. He was asked if he still needed to sell that Denver was the better team and George Karl was the better coach.

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Indiana forward Paul George, who seized the throne of the Pacers franchise after Danny Granger was lost to inject, was named the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award. George, selected as an All-Star reserve, averaged 17.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.8 steals. He was the only player in the league to record at least 140 steals (143) and 50 blocks (51).

He received 52 first-place votes and won easily with 311 points. Warriors point guard Stephen Curry finished in eighth place with one first-place vote.

So, naturally, Curry — who was already an All-Star university — would be disappointed right? This news changes things for Game 2, right, as he would now be determined to prove voters wrong, huh?

“I finished eighth?” Curry asked when confronted with the votes.

This is the part where he rants about being disrespected and not getting his just due. He paused got a minute, staring at his teammates shooting around while he composed his answer.

“Wait, what does that mean? Does that mean people think I wasn’t good last year and I surprised them? Or does it mean not a lot old people think I improved? I’m not sure how I should feel.”

Them, he shot me a look that, if it were a hashtag would say #aintnobodygottimeforthat

Klay Thompson had the 12th most votes, including one first-place vote.  Guard Jarrett Jack got one third place vote.

Warriors forward David Lee, out for the season with a torn right hip flexor, has attending every practice. He’s participates in every meeting. He is filling his teammates eat with whatever insight he can offer.

But Lee said should he be inactive for Game 2, you don’t have to worth about him live Tweeting.

“Can you imagine that?” Lee said with a laugh. “Nah. I’ve got too many holes in my game to be on Twitter breaking down other people’s games.”

Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant’s in-game Tweets became national news. Out for the year due to a torn Achilles, Bryant couldn’t be with the team for Game 1 at San Antonio. As he explained, flying would increase the swelling in his injured foot. So Bryant did some live coaching on Twitter, offering critique and strategy to his followers.

He has since said he would stop live Tweeting because it had become a distraction.

NBA legend Jerry West, in a radio interview with ESPN, doesn’t think it’s a good idea.

WEST: “That’s Kobe. I have nothing but respect for him. The social media, I just don’t think it’s good. Therms enough pressure on everyone now. I don’t understand that at all. I never have understood it. … It’s just something I wouldn’t do.”

Warriors coach Mark Jackson still won’t say who will start in place of injured forward David Lee. No matter whom Jackson taps, veteran Carl Landry will play a significant role in Game 2 on Tuesday.

That isn’t the worst fall-back plan. Landry, in his fourth playoffs, represents one of Golden State’s most experienced players.

“I’m not David Lee. I’m not an All-star. I don’t average 20 points and I don’t average 12 rebounds per game. But I can pick up some of the weight that was lost.”

Landry proved to be a coup for Warriors management. General manager Bob Myers pulled off the improbable signing late in the summer, inking Landry to a two-year deal worth $8 million (with a player option for next season). But Landry can etch himself and Myers into Warriors’ lore with a big performance in place of Lee.

Such is even more likely if Landry gets back to the inside game that helped lead the Warriors into the playoffs.

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Remember the skirmish between the Indiana Pacers and the Warriors back in February?

It started with David Lee and Roy Hibbert ramming into each other under the basket. Moments later, Warriors’ Stephen Curry was thumped into the front row by Hibbert. It was just a bunch of huffing and puffing until Pacers forward David West became a bull in a China shop. David Lee wound up suspended and several players, including Curry and Klay Thompson, lost thousands of dollars in fines.

Well now the beef has spilled over onto Twitter. Check out this exchange between Hibbert and Lee.

Shots fired.

You can always count on David Lee for the witty comeback. They’ve got to be joking, right? Or should we expect to hear from Stu Jackson?

The Golden State Warriors take on the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of the NBA Western Conference Playoffs, First Round.

You know what the Warriors could really use now, one of those monster games from point guard Stephen Curry.

KLAY THOMPSON: “He’s done it all year. On the big stages, too.”

After an ice cold start, Curry warmed up in the second half, scoring 15 points on 6 of 10 shooting. But facing an 0-2 hole, with All-Star David Lee knocked out of the series by a torn right hip flexor, the Warriors need Curry to get hot.

The Warriors pulled out a lot of the stops to get Curry open as Denver swarmed him with bigger and extra defenders Still, he finished with just 19 points on 7 of 20 shooting as Golden State shot 41.3 percent. That’s not going to cut it from Curry in this series.

But if he gets the shots he took in Game 1, the feeling in Warriors camp is he just might have that big game.

MARK JACKSON: “Steph had some great looks. I’ll take the looks that he had all night long.”

Denver finished the regular season having allowed the second-most 3-pointers in the NBA and ranked 20^th in field goal percentage defense. That weakness was relatively unexploited in Game 1 as the Warriors were 8 of 22 from deep (36.4 percent). During the regular season, Golden State was 20-8 in games it shot at least 45 percent from 3-point range.

So, for that matter, the Warriors need Thompson to stay hot, too.

THOMPSON: “I think I can do a lot better. I missed some easy shots. … It was a slightly above average game.”

The second-year guard led the Warriors with 22 points on 10 of 19 shooting. He carried the Warriors for stretches. But he said he has room to grow. He didn’t look at all fazed despite making his postseason debut.

JACKSON: “He doesn’t care about the moment. He doesn’t care about the lights. He made a mistake (in Game 1), and in the middle of me yelling at him during a live play, telling him to run the play, he shoots a jumper. And makes it. Everybody on the bench was laughing. That’s the mentality. The mentality is roll the dice. Let the chips fall. … Klay is a guy that’s not afraid. I expect it from him, absolutely. He’s a knock down shooter, he’s a big time defender, and he competes. I expect him to do that every night.”

So, what’s it going to take from Curry and Klay? Give me numbers.