We expected a good clash between Nuggets and Clippers but the match quickly turned into a beating in favor of Denver. Victory 122-91 for the band to Nikola Jokic.
For the box score of this match, it’s here.
And well say so, we can say that TNT did not have a very good nose to look for suspense. After the demonstration of the Celtics in opening, the famous American channel had opted for an enticing duel between the Nuggets of Nikola Jokic and the Clippers of the duo Paul George – Kawhi Leonard. On paper very heavy but in fact a suspense that will be dead before… halftime. On fire from the start, the Denver players took out the steamroller against LA Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon quickly laid the groundwork for what was to become a professional massacre. Unsustainable offensively, the Nuggets also allow themselves to completely stifle a completely harmless Clippers team. The rain of long-range shots from Colorado players quickly raised the score. We are already at +34 at the break! And the craziest thing about all of this is that Nikola Jokic only scored… 3 points.
This is already too much for Tyronn Lue, who does not even bother to dismiss his holders in the second half. Willingness to preserve its players before a back-to-back, sanction? Hard to say but the second half will not allow the Angelinos to go up the slope. Denver will indeed push up to 43 points ahead! The players at the end of the bench of the City of Angels will reduce the beating a bit at the end of the match but there will be nothing to save from this meeting for the residents of the Crypto.com Arena. Fourth loss in a row for LA and this one stings…
On the Denver side, on the other hand, the smiles are out and rightly so. The Nuggets recited their basketball on both sides of the field, exploded their opponent, while blowing the executives wide at the end of the game. A good omen as a new test tumbles tomorrow with the arrival of the Cavs of Donovan Mitchell.
The match between Nuggets and Clippers will have turned into a disappointment in favor of the gold diggers. Another quality performance from the leader of the Western Conference, who protects his first place without forcing.