Well, that was not the greatest showing from the Denver Nuggets, losing 117-83 in Game 3 to go down 1-2 in their first round series vs the Los Angeles Clippers.
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray combined to score 46 points on 17-of-29 from the field. The rest of the Denver Nuggets? They had 37 points on 14-of-48 from the field. That’s good for 29.2%. The bench itself scored six total points on 2-of-14 from the field. That’s really, really bad.
The Clippers simply didn’t appear bothered by the Nuggets in any way, created good shots whenever and however they wanted to while preventing Nuggets role players from doing the same. Jokic and Murray found success, but this is a team game, and the Nuggets completely and utterly failed.
Here’s the Notes from Game 2:
First Quarter:
- Strong start for Denver shooting wise across the board, but the Clippers also made open threes, mostly from role players
- Coach’s Challenge allowed for Clippers with about six minutes to go when Gordon had the ball in his hands at the free throw line
- Momentum flipped after Clippers won challenge, Harden got multiple three-pointers to end the quarter
- Jokic racked up several first quarter assists on back cuts to Christian Braun and others
- Russell Westbrook struggled upon entering the game
- Nuggets rotations were poor defensively, allowing several wide open threes
Nuggets trail 35-28 after first quarter.
Second Quarter:
- Nuggets ran Aaron Gordon at center against Ivica Zubac. It did not go well for Gordon
- Nicolas Batum keeps making play after play. He’s a winning veteran player that helps connect the Clippers lineups
- DeAndre Jordan checks in, misses two free throws, Nuggets holding on by a thread with Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. baskets
- Russell Westbrook entered and hit a three, played a few minutes, then exited with “foot inflammation.” He did not return
- Braun struggling to make an impact in transition with the Clippers being so disciplined and bigger than him
- Jokic attempted two shots and two free throws in the seven minutes he played in the second quarter. Notably, the Nuggets struggled to score
Nuggets trail 65-48 at halftime.
Third Quarter:
- This game felt over at halftime, and Denver simply didn’t do anything to change that idea
- A Jokic three cut the Clippers lead to 17. Denver never got that close again
- Murray and Jokic created 20 of the Nuggets 23 third quarter points. The other three were free throws
- Gordon slowed down after halftime while Porter and Braun never got going
- Julian Strawther got an opportunity to see if he could jumpstart the offense. He could not
- Nuggets defense was solid in the quarter, but too many back-breaking plays given up, including another Batum three to end the quarter
Nuggets trail 90-70 after third quarter.
Fourth Quarter:
- Ugly lineup to begin the quarter of Pickett, Strawther, Porter, Gordon, Jordan. Unsurprisingly, it struggled to score
- Clippers can’t make free throws, keeping Denver tangentially attached
- Denver brought their starters back in, but the offense stayed horrible
- Jokic and Murray created all five made baskets in the fourth, but they each played about five minutes
- Garbage time ensued at the 4:34 mark in the fourth with Denver down 107-82. The deep bench scored one point the rest of the way, including a blown wide open dunk by Hunter Tyson
Nuggets lose 117-83 to Clippers.
Short Takeaway
Defense hasn’t been the issue for the Nuggets this series. It’s been the offense, what was once the second leading unit in the regular season has been twisted into knots trying to figure out how to score against an elite Clippers defense.
Jokic and Murray have clearly been here before. They’re doing what they can, but it became readily apparent that the Clippers were going to stack the deck against the Jokic-Murray two-man game because they don’t respect Denver’s supporting cast. Aaron Gordon had a good moment in Game 1 and got off to a good start tonight, but when he slowed down and neither Christian Braun nor Michael Porter Jr. picked up the slack it was difficult for the Nuggets to operate. And of course, whenever the Nuggets substitute and bring in someone else, the Clippers know they can leave that person and just double Jokic or Murray at will.
It’s why spacing is so important. It’s why depth is so important. It’s why having several players that you trust to take big shots is important. As teams have felt less and less impact coming from the periphery of Denver’s rotation, the burden of pressure rises on Jokic and Murray. Jokic handled it better tonight than he did in Game 2 with 23 points, 13 rebounds, and 13 assists compared to two turnovers. He shot 9-of-14 from the field and 2-of-3 from three. Murray had 23 points on 15 shots himself. It’s just not enough when nobody else has much to give. Denver needs 30+ points from those guys, maybe even 40+ points, to have a shot in this series. If they can’t deliver that, then the series will be a short one.
Final Rotations
