LA Clippers Display Domination Over Denver Nuggets, 132-103

LA Clippers sent a statement to the entire conference tonight, by humiliating the Denver Nuggets, 132-103. It was a display of power, of strength, and above all, domination. The Clippers are now tied with the Nuggets at the No.2 seed in the West.

“We’re just taking it one game at a time.. we’re blessed to have everybody healthy right now,” said Montrezl Harrell.

Clippers’ defense was excellent, and hosts decreased Nuggets’ shooting percentages in the moments when mattered. Also, Michael Malone’s team made just nine threes in 25 attempts, and was outrebounded 39-46. All this was a consequence of a hard and tight defense LAC executed all night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vaY_9egLfw

“They kicked our ass for 48 minutes. I can say that 10 different ways, but that’s the bottom line,” Malone explained right after the match, adding that his team looked a bit soft compared to the Clippers.

Everything was clear right from the start. The home team took over the command of the floor and imposed its own tempo early on. Because of it, Doc Rivers’ side had a double-digit advantage at the end of the first period, 37-27.

Denver caught the rhythm a bit in the second sequence, but couldn’t do anything noticeable, and the gap stayed the same.

A 9-0 series early on in the first sent the hosts to 77-61, and from that moment on, the Clippers didn’t stop but rolled over the visitors from Colorado.

Paul George had 24 points, shooting threes 6-for-8, and adding four boards. Kawhi Leonard had 19 buckets and five dimes, Harrell a double-double with 18 and 10 boards, while Lou Williams scored 17 points hitting five threes and adding 7 assists to that.

“You can see Lou’s energy coming back. He doesn’t have to bring the ball back every time. He’s getting wide-open threes now,” Rivers said about Williams.

On the other side, the Nuggets were devastated with this loss, and both Jokic and Malone didn’t want to speak much after the game, and the Nuggets had a private team talk inside the locker room.

The difference in this loss was enormous, and it calls for immediate actions, otherwise, Denver will be just a punching bag in the playoffs for the teams from LA, whoever reaches them first. It is visible that they don’t have the answers to a lot of questions when facing their two biggest rivals in the conference, and having in mind that the season is reaching its end, those issues have to be eliminated fast.

Jokic had 21 points, 9 boards, shooting 9-for-13 from the field. Jerami Grant added 20, while Will Barton scored 18 points. The only one who had a double-digit number of points was Jamal Murray with 11 buckets, and he was experiencing what it is like to be harassed in defense by Patrick Beverly, Leonard, George, etc. As a product of that, Murray made just five of his 12 shots.

Nuggets (40-19) now have two games at home, against the reigning champions the Toronto Raptors on Sunday, and the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday. After that, they jump to North Carolina to meet the Hornets and Ohio to face the Cavaliers. They need to post all four wins here and prevent further complications of their situation.

The Clippers (40-19) meet the 76ers tomorrow, before heading for a two-game journey to Oklahoma City and Houston. When that is over, Doc Rivers’ boys come back home to meet the Lakers next Sunday.