LOS ANGELES — Few, if any, coaches would welcome the reigning NBA champions, along with their two-time league MVP, into their arena. Yet that’s exactly what Clippers coach Tyronn Lue did ahead of Thursday night’s game against the Denver Nuggets.
“Whenever you get the chance to play against the champions, you have to be ready to do it,” Lue said. “And Joker (Nikola Jokic), who is a solid cover, is a great player. I love watching him play.
Lue may not have felt the same way at first as the Clippers, playing without Kawhi Leonard, struggled to contain the Nuggets and fell behind by 17 points in the first half.
But behind a strong defensive effort in the second half and playing with the kind of energy not seen recently in Crypto.com Arena, they held on for a 102-100 victory, overcoming a triple -double of 36 points from Jokic to end a streak of five. home game with a losing streak.
But it wasn’t easy.
After Jokic made a 3-pointer to bring Denver within 102-100 with 1:46 left, Zubac missed a layup. The Clippers got the ball back when Aaron Gordon fumbled the ball out of bounds with 33.1 seconds left, giving them a chance to extend their lead.
James Harden’s 3-point attempt failed, however, giving the ball back to the Nuggets with five seconds remaining. Jokic then launched a last-second 3-pointer that failed as time expired.
The Nuggets began chipping away at an 11-point deficit in the third quarter, eventually closing to within two 94-92 on a 3-pointer from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with 3:51 remaining. Denver cut the lead further to 98-97 on Jokic’s free throws with 1:46 left.
But the Nuggets (53-24) failed to complete their comeback.
Leonard missed his second straight game and eighth this season due to right knee soreness and his status for Friday’s game against the Utah Jazz had not yet been determined.
Sitting Leonard, who underwent knee surgery in 2021, could be a precautionary measure given that Thursday’s game was the start of a five-of-seven series. The All-Star winger has played in 68 games this season , his highest since his 2016-17 All-Star season,
While the Clippers missed Leonard’s team-leading 23.7 points per game in Tuesday’s loss to the Sacramento Kings, Thursday was a different story.
They had four players in double figures, led by Paul George, who had 28 points and four rebounds. Harden finished with 20 points on 6-of-23 shooting (2-of-13 from 3-point range), along with eight assists and six rebounds. Russell Westbrook added 12 points and six assists, while Zubac had 14 points and 15 rebounds.
Norman Powell added 11 points.
Denver is a team that the Clippers have had issues with, having lost two of the first three meetings this season. And that was certainly the case early on, as the Clippers failed to find an offensive rhythm in the first 12 minutes.
Whatever Lue said to them between quarters seemed to snap them out of their malaise as Powell, Westbrook and Amir Coffey brought the Clippers back into the game with an 8-0 run to get within 31-30 with 9:53 to go. play in the first half.
The Clippers bench dominated that of the Nuggets 21-0 in the first half and 34-9 for the match.
Then Harden got hot, putting to rest concerns about his recent lack of scoring. He buried a 3-pointer then scored a 3-point play to give the Clippers a 40-37 lead.
Between two 3-pointers and a Jokic layup, Harden added a 10-foot jumper, three foul shots after falling victim to a 3-point attempt that pushed the Clippers to 48-46 with a minute to go. play before halftime. Harden added a 3-pointer and George to close the half, 53-49.
Harden had 14 of his points in the first half.
The Nuggets, having already clinched a playoff spot, were led by Jokic, who had his 24th triple-double of the season, posting 36 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists.
The Nuggets were without star guard Jamal Murray, who missed the game with right knee inflammation, but Denver had plenty of others stepping up to the plate.
But Denver had to finish the game without coach Michael Malone, who was ejected with 7:54 remaining after walking onto the court to argue with officials, causing two technical fouls.
More to come on this story.
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