The Denver Nuggets are moving on in the playoffs and the Los Angeles Clippers are going home after a 120-101 Denver victory in the pivotal Game 7. Surprisingly it was not a game carried by Nikola Jokic or Jamal Murray. Jokic had 16 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists despite sitting most of the fourth quarter with 5 fouls, but Aaron Gordon led the team with 22 points and Christian Braun had 21, while Denver had 6 players with 15+ points in this one in a balanced and effective offensive attack. The Nuggets won the battle of the boards 46-36, and Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 22 points but was a -33 in plus/minus for the game as Denver took everything else away from the Clippers. No one else for Los Angeles had more than 13 points and that was Kobe Brown off the bench in 8 garbage minutes. Denver took an incredibly competitive series and turned the final game into a laugher from the second quarter on, and now get to continue their playoff journey next against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Game Flow
Ivica Zubac opened the first quarter scoring with a paint bank shot. Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic and MPJ all missed threes while the Clippers scored in transition. The fourth 3-pointer from Denver went in, this one from Christian Braun, and then a long feed off a rebound from Jokic to Braun ended in a Nuggets dunk. Derrick Jones Jr. hit a three for the Clippers, while Braun missed a pair of free throws. Aaron Gordon finished a dunk from a Jokic pass, and then the Nuggets went to a zone that stymied the Clippers for a few possessions. On the other end, Jokic make free throws, Murray hit a technical for a 3-second violation and in transition MPJ buried a corner three to put Denver up 13-11. Porter had a nice give-and-go paint finish with Joker, Kawhi Leonard tied it at 15 for LA with free throws, and Batum made a three while Braun did not. Christian finished an oop for Denver, then made a paint finish despite uncalled contact. Jokic could not make a bucket from the field, though, and the Clippers got to the line to make a difference. Peyton Watson had a nice finish in the final minute but Zubac answered, and LA finished up 26-21 after one.
After a rough couple of possessions, Aaron Gordon powered up a tough finish and then Peyton Watson had a great defensive rebound and euro-step bucket on the other end closed the gap to 1. Russell Westbrook’s corner three gave Denver the lead back at 28-26. AG missed a transition finish but got a second chance off a Russ steal and hammered home the dunk to force a Clippers timeout with Denver up 3. Zubac hit a paint hook shot, Jokic answered with a three for his first bucket of the game, and Watson added one from the corner. Kawhi Leonard answered with one of his own, and Braun had a finish on a Jokic steal. Kawhi had a traditional 3-pointer but Westbrook hit his second deep shot of the game to make it 46-32 Denver. Denver kept playing a zone on defense and Zubac beat it inside, but Jokic had a layup off a Russ feed in response. AG hit a pair of free throws, Norman Powell had a nice jumpshot, and Murray finally hit a floater to get his offensive game going. Russ got to the line, made one and missed the other but then put back the rebound on his own miss. Gordon got back to the line himself as Denver gave as good as they got from a physicality perspective and forced the Clippers into fouling them. Harden rolled home a jumper, Jokic bounced in a paint shot, and then a block from Jokic set up a tough transition paint finish from Murray. Kawhi hit a late jumper but Denver forced a 24 second violation in the closing seconds and Denver went into halftime up 58-47.
James Harden opened the third quarter with a three, but Jokic hit a jumper in response and then crashed the defensive boards for Denver. Braun hit a wide-open three off an AG assist and then Joker found Gordon for a dunk to stretch the lead to 15 and force an early Clippers timeout. Harden missed a layup and MPJ answered with a 3, then Murray got fouled without a whistle but Aaron Gordon tipped in the finish. Denver came out of the half playing harder than the Clippers, and after AG blocked a Norman Powell attempt, Jokic’s rebound led to another MPJ three and a 23 point lead on a 15-0 run. Gordon made a jumper before Powell finally ended the run with a layup after a missed MPJ deep shot. Jamal got right back on the horse though with a layup off a CB feed. Jones hit a layup for the Clippers but Jokic answered with one of his own and a free throw on the foul as Denver stayed firmly in charge – and then Aaron Gordon finished this incredible oop off a Braun pass.
The Clippers got to the line a few times to force some points, then Kawhi blocked CB, but Braun recovered and put in his next attempt. Kawhi finished in transition but the Clippers couldn’t start a run because they couldn’t stop Denver’s offensive attack. Westbrook grabbed a Jokic miss and got to the line, Bogdan Bogdanovic hit a three for LA, and Jokic blocked a Zubac shot after Nikola called for two fouls in 30 seconds. Braun nailed a three, Jokic got called for his fifth foul as the refs desperately tried to keep this game close and had to sit. The Nuggets closed with a 17-foot Murray jumper and a drive-and-finish from the arc and Denver finished the quarter up 93-66.
MPJ had a great dunk to start the fourth quarter with a bang. Jamal Murray buried an incredibly tough turnaround, Powell missed for LA and an MPJ miss turned into a DeAndre Jordan dunk on his former team to go up 33 points at 99-66. MPJ had a great one-handed turnaround off the glass of his own and Westbrook had a great open court dunk off a steal. The Clippers closed to within 26 thanks to Bogdanovic’s traditional and behind-the-arc threes as well as a Kobe Brown bucket, but Aaron Gordon hit a great turnaround and then Russ had another steal-and-dunk and hung on the rim long enough to get a technical – which got him an ovation from the crowd. Denver’s starters finally got pulled to a standing ovation with just over 5 minutes left after a really tough Gordon finish with Denver up 111-81. The Denver reserves weren’t quite ready to play and gave up a 7-0 run with some poor turnovers from Russ, which led to Jokic and Murray and AG coming back in to stop the run and put the exclamation point on the win. Jokic hit a turnaround in the paint, but then had the ball stripped from him on a rebound. Gordon airballed a three, Dunn made one as the Clippers tried to make it respectable and the Nuggets played some lazy ball trying to get to the finish. The Clippers had a 20-6 run interrupted by Braun free throws, then Watson had a finish and a block to get Denver to the finish and the series win with a Julian Strawther final-minute three and a 120-101 win.
Final Thoughts
– Watson and Westbrook keyed the second quarter turnaround, which changed the game. The Nuggets came out sluggish and tight, and neither Jokic nor Murray were lighting it up. They scored a combined 15 points on 16 shots in the first half, while Watson and Westbrook had 17 combined on just 8 shots. The game got faster with them in, and Denver capitalized on more mistakes. The Nuggets outscored the Clippers 37-21 in the second quarter and had 14 fastbreak points for the half. Once Denver found the gas in this game they never let up, and stretched the lead to 30+ points in the fourth quarter with Russ getting a tech for being too great and hanging on the rim after yet another steal-and-dunk. In this game I thought Jokic would have to have an incredible game and instead that whole team picked up their output and effort level to pick him up and force the Clippers to finally look mortal and overmatched against what was one of the top offenses in the NBA during the regular season. It was great to finally see it in Game 7.
– Denver took care of the ball, which allowed them to play their game. The Nuggets had just 3 first-half turnovers to LA’s 7, which meant they could run their offense instead of allowing runouts by the Clippers. Denver’s defense was very good, even though the Clippers missed several wide-open threes that would have changed their percentage around. But being able to execute against the Los Angeles defense really mattered. This is a squad defined by its offensive production and ability to get it done against any defense, and in this one despite managing to slow Jokic – whether due to fouls or a weird third quarter whistle or injuries or just a great defensive plan – the Nuggets proved they are more than just their MVP, and they can rise to the occasion with or without him.
– Moving on to face the Oklahoma City Thunder! I would rather this was a Western Conference Finals matchup, but the Nuggets did it to themselves with the games down the stretch that got Malone and Booth fired, so now they have to face the Thunder ahead of schedule. The Nuggets are battered and bruised but despite Jokic wearing two shooting sleeves and MPJ having NFL-level padding on his sprained shoulder and Aaron Gordon walking with a limp, the Nuggets go in with heads high. They’ve already faced a defense as physical as any in the Association. They beat a squad with multiple Hall of Famers that is deeper and healthier than them. The Thunder are rested and the Nuggets are not, but it’s up to the Nuggets to make OKC prove they have the championship mettle this year. Denver’s in the fight still, now we’ll see how far they can take it. Let the playoffs continue! After an ice bath, anyway.
