DENVER -- Forward Danilo Gallinari scored 28 points and had a key steal in the final 10 seconds Wednesday, and the Denver Nuggets handed the Golden State Warriors a rare defeat, 112-110.

Guard Will Barton finished with 21 points for the Nuggets (15-24).

Guard Stephen Curry scored 38 points for the Warriors (36-3). The visitors' march to a historic season took a hit against a scrappy Nuggets team that had lost four in a row to Golden State.

It was nail-biting at the end. Gallinari, who was 17-for-19 from the foul line, missed one with 3.1 seconds left to give the Warriors one last chance. Guard Klay Thompson missed a fall-away jumper at the buzzer, and the Nuggets escaped.

The win ranks with the Nuggets' Feb. 4, 1996, victory that ended Chicago's 18-game winning streak. The Bulls finished 72-10 that season -- the best mark in NBA history, and the record the Warriors are chasing.

The Warriors played the game without do-everything forward Draymond Green, who sat out a game for the first time this season as a scheduled day of rest. Golden State missed his 15.9 points, 9.7 rebounds and 7.3 assists, and his absence showed late in the game.

The Nuggets led by 11 after forward Darrell Arthur's dunk with 6:56 left, but then Curry heated up. The reigning league MVP hit a 3-pointer, three free throws and two driving layups to cut Denver's lead to 102-95 with 2:40 left.

Curry's fourth 3-pointer of the night made it 104-100 with 1:44 left, but Barton answered with a 3-pointer.

Curry hit another layup, but Arthur sank a 20-footer to make it 109-102. Golden State forward Harrison Barnes (18 points) hit a layup and Curry drained a pull-up jumper from 33 feet to make it 109-107 with 37 seconds left.

After Gallinari had his drive blocked with 16.8 seconds left, he stole the ball from Curry, and Denver guard Gary Harris hit two free throws with 5.4 seconds left.

Thompson (17 points) hit a 3-pointer with 3.4 seconds left to make it a one-point game.

Curry missed six of his first seven shots and had 11 points at halftime, when the Warriors trailed 55-54.

Golden State scored eight straight early in the third to go up by six, but Denver went on a 23-7 run to lead 83-73 heading into the fourth.

Denver center Jusuf Nurkic left the game early in the fourth after hitting the floor hard on a block attempt.

NOTES: Warriors interim coach Luke Walton said F Draymond Green always wants to play but was OK with sitting out Wednesday's game. ... Nuggets F J.J. Hickson had a root canal and was not active. ... Walton said he talks with head coach Steve Kerr daily, but there is no timetable for Kerr to return to the bench. Kerr has been sidelined all season with complications stemming from two offseason back surgeries. "It's when he gets to a certain level, but he doesn't know when that will be," Walton said. ... Denver signed G Sean Kilpatrick to a 10-day contract on Tuesday. Kilpatrick averaged 27.1 points and 5.1 rebounds for Delaware of the NBA D-League.