The Denver Nuggets, winners of four-consecutive games and sole owners of the first seed in the Western Conference, came into their matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers with the intention of going into Christmas with yet another win under their belt.
Unfortunately, the Nuggets lacked the energy to come away with their fifth-straight victory. Once Nikola Jokic was ejected from the game in controversial fashion (more on that later) Denver began to fall apart with just one of their opening day starters left to rely on in Jamal Murray. By the time the final buzzer mercifully sounded, the Nuggets had lost to the Clippers by a score of 132-111.
The first quarter was the Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray show for the Nuggets on offense as the two of them combined to score all of the Nuggets first 14 points of the game. It was not until the 3:46 mark of the first quarter, when Trey Lyles put back a missed Monte Morris 3-point shot, that someone other than Jokic or Murray scored. At that point, Denver had fallen behind 23-16 and were in desperate need of some energy. The Clippers were getting whatever they wanted on offense and the were suffocating Denver on defense as Los Angeles jumped out to a quick 12-point lead.
In the last three minutes of the first quarter, Denver’s bench unit did a good job of gaining some momentum. Malik Beasley made multiple good decisions as he created a floater for himself and also managed to hit Plumlee with a pass for an open dunk. Plumlee was flying around on defense and Lyles was doing a good job of staying aggressive and finding ways to manufacture points.
Even after a strong push by the Nuggets bench mob, Denver still carried an eight-point deficit into the second quarter by a score of 34-26. The Nuggets allowed the Clippers to shoot 55.6 percent form the field and 4-of-6 from 3-point distance in the first quarter while being out-rebounded 13-7.
For the first half of the second quarter, Denver’s bench unit kept the Nuggets deficit in the single digits. Monte Morris and Mason Plumlee continued to thrive in the two-man game, Denver’s defensive energy spiked, and Trey Lyles continued to score efficiently. Eventually, the bench unit passed along an eight-point deficit to the starting unit.
By the time that the second quarter came to an end, Denver managed to close within five points, but after an ill-advised foul with 0.4 seconds left in the first half, which led to three-made free throws by Tobias Harris of the Clippers, Denver instead carried a nine-point deficit into the second half by a score of 68-59. Denver’s defense never consistently found its way into the game as they allowed the Clippers to put up 68 first-half points by shooting 55.3 percent from the field and 54.6 percent from 3-point distance on 11 attempts.
In the third quarter is when things began to unravel for the Nuggets. They could not limit the Clippers’ 3-point shooting, were not able to score enough to keep up, and then, with about seven minutes remaining in the third quarter, Nikola Jokic argued a call by an official and was immediately thrown out of the game. He was not issued a technical foul first and was immediately tossed from the game for whatever he said to the official.
Thing just got worse from that point forward as the Clippers extended their lead as high as 17 points. The Nuggets had no answers for the Clippers offensive attack and were out of rhythm for the rest of the game. By the time the buzzer sounded at the end of the third quarter, Denver was down 17 points by a score of 103-86.
The fourth quarter was a mere formality as Nuggets head coach Michael Malone emptied what was left of his bench with about nine minutes left to play. Nick Young, Tyler Lydon, Brandon Goodwin and Thomas Welsh were able to log minutes to finish the game as Denver got obliterated by the Clippers 132-111.
Prior to being ejected from the game, Jokic led the Nuggets with 19 points, six rebounds, and three assists on 7-of-15 shooting from the field. Murray also had a productive game with 18 points on 6-of-16 shooting. Off the bench, Monte Morris continued his terrific season en route to 15 points and five assists on 6-of-9 shooting.
Next, the Nuggets will enjoy Christmas thanks to another three days off before heading to Texas to take on the San Antonio Spurs on December 26th. That game will tip off at 6:30pm MST.
