We have officially reached our first elimination game in the first round series between the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Clippers. The Nuggets finally showed their full force in game five, routing the Clippers in a wire to wire win to take a 3-2 lead. Now they head back to L.A. looking to finish off a Clippers team that looked outmatched for the first time this series. Working to L.A.’s advantage, they are a fantastic home team and the Nuggets have sometimes struggled to eliminate a team in six games after going up 3-2.
The Essentials
Who: Denver Nuggets (3-2) vs Los Angeles Clippers (2-3)
When: 8PM MDT
Where: The house that Microsoft built. Los Angeles, CA.
How to watch/listen: Denver Stiffs does not condone piracy, unless it’s the romanticized 17th century type. TNT, Altitude Radio 92.5 FM. Where a bunch of Clippers stuff to get on the wall, only to rip off your shirt and reveal your full torso Nikola Jokic tattoo.
Rival blog: 213 Hoops
The Matchup
| Position | Nuggets | Clippers | Advantage |
| PG | Jamal Murray | Kris Dunn | Nuggets |
| SG | Christian Braun | James Harden | Clippers |
| SF | Michael Porter Jr. | Norman Powell | Even |
| PF | Aaron Gordon | Kawhi Leonard | Clippers |
| C | Nikola Jokic | Ivica Zubac | Nuggets |
| Bench | Russell Westbrook, Peyton Watson, Jalen Pickett | Bogdan Bogdanovic, Ben Simmons, Derrick Jones Jr. | Even |
Injury report: DaRon Holmes II – out (achilles).
The Three Things
The thing to watch for: is Playoff ‘Mal here for real?
After a fairly muted series performance so far, Jamal Murray exploded in game five for 43 points. The difference in Denver’s domination was palpable. When Jamal is on like that he puts so much pressure on opposing defenses and punishes them for not double teaming him, a difficult prospect if you are already doubling Nikola Jokic. He’s absolutely deadly in the pick and roll (including finishing above the rim on more than one occasion), has no problem taking his man off the dribble to get to a mid-range pull up and steps into threes that find nothing but the bottom of the net consistently. When he’s on like that there’s not a team in the league that can beat the Nuggets. I’m looking for Jamal to carry the momentum into game six and be a big factor in finishing this series tonight.
The thing to remember: Harden’s game six history is not great
This will be the 16th game six of James Harden’s career. The results thus far are…not great. Over his career James has averaged 20 points on a woeful 40% shooting in a game sixes. He has not topped thirty points in a game six since he was a Houston Rocket. For whatever reason, he seems to become very passive when the pressure is on the most. It doesn’t mean he’s completely ineffective though. Harden has some pretty big assist totals in these types of games so expect him to be looking to make plays for others if nothing else. I’m also sure is aware of the narrative out there. After a complete dud in game five, it’ll be interesting to see if he can respond or if he’ll never beat the allegations of being a playoff dropper.
The thing to bet: Nuggets moneyline (+220)
No big predictions here, other than I think the fellas get it done tonight. I imagine they still remember all too well the game six in Minnesota last year that they forgot to show up for and then ultimately went on to lose the series in a crazy “anything can happen” game seven. If the Nuggets are serious about making a run, they’ll finish this thing tonight and you’ll more than double up on your money.
