SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Brandin Podziemski scored 12 of his 18 points in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter and the Golden State Warriors beat the Denver Nuggets 128-117 on Sunday.
Podziemski shot 7 of 16 and added 15 rebounds and nine assists. Al Horford hit six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points and seven assists as the Warriors ended a two-game losing streak despite being without Stephen Curry (knee), Kristaps Porzingis (sick) and Jimmy Butler (torn right ACL). Draymond Green (back) was also a late scratch.
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Golden State Warriors center Al Horford scores a 3-point basket against the Denver Nuggets during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Kelley L Cox)
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic keeps the ball in play during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Kelley L Cox)
Denver Nuggets guard Julian Strawther, center, loses the ball out of bounds against Golden State Warriors guard Will Richard, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Kelley L Cox)
Golden State Warriors forward Gui Santos (15) drives in against Denver Nuggets forward/guard Bruce Brown, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Kelley L Cox)
Moses Moody had 23 points and seven rebounds for the Warriors. DeAnthony Melton added 20 points.
Nikola Jokic had 25 points, 20 rebounds and 12 assists for Denver. It’s Jokic’s fifth triple-double in seven games, 19th of the season and the 183rd of his career.
Jamal Murray scored 21 points for the Nuggets, who had won three of five. Christian Braun scored 18 and Bruce Brown added 12.
Coming off a 54-point win over Portland on Friday, Denver never led in the first half. The Nuggets made a run in the second half before Golden State closed the game on a 19-8 run.
Podziemski led the Warriors with a pair of 3s and a put-back during the run. Horford added his sixth 3-pointer and had the Chase Center crowd rocking.
Horford got the Warriors going early with a pair of 3-pointers and 11 points in the first quarter.
Golden State extended its lead to 76-67 in the second despite Jokic being one assist shy of his triple-double before halftime.
Nuggets: Host the Boston Celtics on Wednesday.
Warriors: At the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Golden State Warriors center Al Horford scores a 3-point basket against the Denver Nuggets during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Kelley L Cox)
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic keeps the ball in play during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Kelley L Cox)
Denver Nuggets guard Julian Strawther, center, loses the ball out of bounds against Golden State Warriors guard Will Richard, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Kelley L Cox)
Golden State Warriors forward Gui Santos (15) drives in against Denver Nuggets forward/guard Bruce Brown, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Kelley L Cox)
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — They chanted “U-S-A! U-S-A!” and a few openly wept at Lake Placid's Olympic Center, the same building where the “Miracle on Ice” happened exactly 46 years earlier. In Ohio, some waved flags inside a packed bar. And in Florida, a man played baseball wearing a USA Hockey jersey.
The man was George Springer. He plays for the Toronto Blue Jays. Canadians might not have appreciated his wardrobe.
USA 2, Canada 1. The U.S. men are Olympic hockey gold medalists for the first time since 1980, after topping their rivals to the north in overtime on Sunday in Milan. The country — even though the game started at 8 a.m. in the East, 5 a.m. Pacific — was clearly watching, and when it went final overjoyed reactions could be found from sea to shining sea.
“I wasn’t here for the Miracle game, obviously. since I’m only 44,” said Jackie Palmateer, a vacationer who watched from the arena in Lake Placid on Sunday. “We were going to go skiing, and then this happened, and you have to watch the game, and I said, ‘Why would we want to watch this from the hotel?’ So, we came here. It’s like seeing history happen when you’re already in the museum.”
In Madison, Wisconsin, the goal horns went off at the Badgers' hockey arena before the powerhouse women's team hosted St. Cloud State — because the gold-medal game was being shown on the arena screen. When Jack Hughes scored the winner, people inside the arena began cheering.
Among those people: the St. Cloud State women's team, because they were watching even though they had their own game to get ready for. Wisconsin — coached by Mark Johnson, who played for the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” team — won the game 4-2.
“We were all watching that game. I was up early and doing my video and watching the game. Man, I think hockey in general won out, whether you’re a female player who likes females’ hockey or you’re a male player and like males’ hockey," Johnson said after his team clinched the Western Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season championship.
“We saw a great final game with Canada and the U.S. in the women’s game, and then today was a classic. The USA figured out how to win a game they didn’t play their best in. Canada’s a proud country. They played a real solid game and came up a little short, but I think in general hockey won, because I guarantee you every house, restaurant and bar in Canada had the game on and they were all watching it, and I’m sure a lot of people in the States that maybe had never watched hockey before watched.”
The White House took notice, with President Donald Trump posting on social media, “Congratulations to our great U.S.A. Ice Hockey team. THEY WON THE GOLD. WOW!” Other politicians also weighed in; Sen. Amy Klobuchar posted a video of a hockey bar — Tom Reid's Hockey City Pub — in St. Paul, Minnesota, jammed at 7 a.m. local time. “They don't call Minnesota the State of Hockey for nothing,” she wrote.
And in South Florida, the Elbo Room — a preferred hangout spot for Matthew Tkachuk — was filled as well for the early morning start time, then went bonkers when the Americans prevailed.
“Extremely proud,” Florida Panthers forward Mackie Samoskevich said.
It was must-see-TV, even across different sports.
Some NBA teams might not have been watching customary pregame film on Sunday. They were watching hockey instead.
“I wasn’t waking up at 5:30," Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "But incredible, what an incredible sporting event, competition at its highest, amazing to watch.”
Kerr had dual rooting interests: He coached the U.S. to the men's basketball gold medal at the Paris Olympics in 2024, And the Warriors' vice president of player health and performance is Rick Celebrini — the father of Canada forward Macklin Celebrini, someone the entire Golden State organization follows and roots on, for obvious reasons.
The Miami Marlins gathered in their spring training clubhouse to watch overtime, chants of U-S-A breaking out in there when Hughes got the game-winner. Springer, according to MLB.com, bolted from the Blue Jays' clubhouse to celebrate outside when the U.S. won the game, then took live batting practice in the USA Hockey jersey.
And in Mesa, Arizona, the Athletics watched the Olympic hockey final together in the clubhouse of Hohokam Stadium — and Canadian center fielder Denzel Clarke was the one left heartbroken afterward.
A's manager Mark Kotsay said the game was “pretty incredible.” But he felt for Clarke as well.
“Well, it was one against 72 in there," Kotsay said. “He would have definitely let us all know about it. So, we kind of got fortunate and very thankful for Team USA to win the gold today. Not much does quiet Denzel, but it definitely quieted him.”
It wasn't quiet in Lake Placid. Or just about anyplace else in the U.S. that had the game on Sunday. What happened on Feb. 22, 1980, with the “Miracle” team will resonate, and odds are, so will what happened on Feb. 22, 2026, with this golden group.
“The next generation," U.S. goalie Connor Hellebuyck said, “has something to look up to.”
On Sunday, it seemed like an entire nation felt that way.
AP reporters Michelle Price, Janie McCauley, Steve Megargee and Dennis Waszak Jr. contributed.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
United States fans cheer after a men's ice hockey gold medal game between Canada and the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
United States players greet fans after defeating Canada in the men's ice hockey gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
United States' Dylan Larkin (21) celebrates with fans after the men's ice hockey gold medal game between Canada and the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
United States' Brady Tkachuk (7), Matthew Tkachuk, center, and Zach Werenski (8) celebrate after their overtime win against Canada in the men's ice hockey gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
United States' Jack Eichel celebrates after the United States defeated Canada in a men's ice hockey gold medal game between Canada and the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
