Clippers beat Nuggets with defense

LOS ANGELES, California – The Denver Nuggets returned to Crypton.com Arena where they beat the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 27 without three of their best players. The last time the Clippers and Nuggets hooked up, the outcome was determined by two players who used to play for the home team.

DeAndre (21 points) Jordan and Reggie Jackson (35 points) burned the Clippers for a combined 46 points in Denver’s road win. Denver’s win was surprising given the fact that the Nuggets played that game without Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, and Nikola Jokic and still handed the Clippers a double-digit defeat at home.  

The Clippers came into the game looking to avenge that loss. With the Nuggets at full strength, the Clippers had to dig in extra to try to get a win against Denver’s heralded trio of Jokic, Murray, and Gordon. The Clippers’ Fab Four of Russell Westbrook, Paul George, James Harden, and Kawhi Leonard did their part.  

The Nuggets blinked first. After scoring 36 points in the first quarter, Denver couldn’t tally more than 25 points in the other three periods. The Clippers held the Nuggets to just 20 points in the fourth quarter and grinded out a 111-1002 win. 

“We started off in training camp wanting to be a better team, we still want to come in and be a defensive team first, even though we have a lot of talent offensively,” Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard said about the team’s defensive efforts against Denver. “I feel like defense wins championships, you got to buy in on that end, have attention to detail, and that can get your offense going.”

The key in this game for the Clippers was defense. Los Angeles held Denver to 41 percent shooting from the field. The Clippers were effective in guarding the perimeter, holding the Nuggets to just 38 percent in 3-point shooting (12 of 31). More importantly, the Clippers, thanks to superb work by center Ivica Zubac, managed to render Jokic to a terrible shooting night. 

Although he posted a triple-double on the night, Jokic made only 9 of 32 field goal attempts and finished the game with 22 points.  

“I thought Zu [Ivica Zubac] did a good job just being physical,” Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said. “A lot of times Zu don’t contest his [Nikola Jokic] shots because Joker is great at drawing fouls and getting you in the air and so we’ve just been making a conscious effort just making sure that when he does shoot it, even the one-legged fadeaways, he can make those shots so just get a contest. Early on in that first quarter we didn’t get contests.” 

At first, this game looked like it was going to be a walkover. That’s because Denver dominated the first quarter and made the Clippers look like they were invisible. The Nuggets connected on 58 percent of their field goal attempts in the opening period to take a 15-point lead. 

The Clippers looked like they needed help to keep up with Denver. That changed in the second quarter. The Clippers regrouped and flipped their woes in the first quarter into outscoring the Nuggets 40-21 in the second period. With an All-Star lineup, the Clippers are expected to make a postseason run. 

That run LA had in the second quarter was a reminder of the potential of this team. However, trying to prove you’re the best and being the best are two different levels of success. The Nuggets are the defending NBA champions. The Clippers hope to walk in those shoes. That’s why they went out and traded for Harden. 

But this was not a game played with the championship on the line. It was a regular season game played in December. This contest will probably be far from the minds of both teams once the playoffs begin in the spring. For now, though, this was a good test for the Clippers to gauge themselves against the elite of the elite. 

Executing on both sides of the ball, they passed. George led the team in scoring with 25 points. Harden produced a double-double ( 20 points, 11 assists). Both Leonard (17 points) and Westbrook played complimentary ball. George gave kudos to the second unit, led by Westbrook, for providing a spark the team needed. 

“I think [Russell Westbrook] sets the tone with that energy that he brings. I thought he kept a lot of possessions alive,” George said. “He had big rebounds, big putbacks. [Norman Powell] was great in transition. Daniel [Theis] hit big threes. I thought we just had a great energy with that group. We got stops and we converted. I thought that was a big turn in this game, that we got some energy involved, and we were able to get some easy baskets.” 

Top Photo Credit: Melinda Meijer/News4usonline. Photo Caption: Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac plays defense against Nikola Joic of the Denver Nuggets on Dec. 6, 2023