The Denver Nuggets were defeated 111-102 by the Los Angeles Clippers after blowing a 15-point first-quarter lead. Michael Porter Jr. finished with nine rebounds and eight points on just eight shots, while Nikola Jokic finished with nine points, fifteen rebounds, and ten assists on a nine-for-32 shooting night that was as ugly a game as he had played in a long time. Jamal Murray made his less than spectacular comeback with twenty-three points and six assists. Despite Paul George’s 25 points, James Harden’s 20 and Kawhi Leonard’s 17, this seemed more like a Denver loss because of their inefficient playstyle, which was led by their MVP in an uncommonly poor performance.
Game Synopsis
For the first time in almost a month, the Nuggets used their whole starting lineup, and a drive by Aaron Gordon set up a Jokic three. Jamal Murray responded with a three of his own after Zubac scored in the paint. The Nuggets started the game with great energy and movement, as James Harden made an open layup but Jokic sank a second three from the other side of the floor and an MPJ save after a miss to Jokic resulted in a Kentavious Caldwell-Pope three. AG forced a jumper off a baseline drive for a 14-6 Denver lead early on, prompting the Clippers to call a timeout. It was ineffective as Harden and Kawhi Leonard missed as MPJ sank a three and AG banked in a two. After a couple more Kawhi baskets, AG scored a slam, MPJ added another basket, and Paul George converted a three-pointer to make it 25–15 Denver. Porter made back-to-back three-pointers to cut the Los Angeles deficit to 15 and force another timeout. Even though Jokic missed a couple of jumpers, Denver’s bench managed to contain Kawhi rather well, while Reggie Jackson’s corner three applied constant pressure. Denver led 36-21 at the end of the quarter after Christian Braun’s dunk was made possible by a theft by Peyton Watson.
As Denver got around Murray’s minutes restriction, he returned to the game to start the second quarter and led the bench unit in non-Jokic minutes. Watson made a few of free throws, but Daniel Theis’s rebounding and clutch shooting from the bench allowed him to cut the lead to nine points. Before Murray threw an oop to DeAndre Jordan, the Nuggets bench was silent. Watson and Braun combined for another steal-and-finish play, but Normal Powell made a three-pointer to keep the Clippers within eight points at 42-34. Denver stayed ice-cold in the second quarter from deep, and the refs called some dubious calls on Denver defenders. The Clippers resorted to a zone when Jokic returned. After Jokic missed a jumper and Kobe Brown made a three, the Clippers tied the game at 46 points, wiping out Denver’s entire 15-point lead. Paul George converted a three-pointer following another Nuggets turnover, giving the Clippers their first lead of the game despite a couple of free throws made by Reggie Jackson. Since the first quarter, Jokic has missed nine consecutive shots, allowing the Clippers to pull up 55-48. After Nikola’s final-second shot ended the Clippers’ 11-0 run, he promptly missed an MPJ the next time down. After a three-pointer from Harden, a conventional three-point play from Murray, and a pick-and-roll with Jokic, Denver led by four points at the half, 61-57.
After tying the score early in the second half with a 14-footer, Jokic stole the ball and finished inside. Paul George overcame MPJ with difficulty, but Denver forced a few mistakes and finished with baskets at the rim from Murray and Jokic for a 65-65 lead before George dunked on Jokic. Denver took a three-point lead thanks to another three from MPJ and a high-bank push shot. Murray forced a Clippers timeout and nailed a deep corner 2 to give his team a 72-67 lead. Kawhi Leonard made a three-pointer over MPJ, Murray dribbled past his defender for a two, and the latter somehow found space with a stepback over Zubac for another basket. Jokic missed a few baskets, but Murray’s block kept them in the game, and MPJ later slammed a Murray three that had been missed after stealing the ball. Denver struggled to make baskets for the remainder of the quarter until Paul George’s last-second three-pointer. With one minute remaining, Jokic was only 8 of 25 for the game when he departed the court, and when Denver’s defense tightened up, Reggie Jackson made a three-pointer over a Clippers zone. Denver led 3 points at the end of the quarter (82-79) after a DeAndre Jordan block resulted in free throws on the other end.
Following some back-and-forth, Paul George replied a three-pointer made by Reggie Jackson. After Denver battled to stop the zone, George added another three points to give the Clippers a 90-87 lead after Reggie lobbed one to DeAndre. On a George drive that resulted in a Braun finish, Watson received a great assist block. When Jokic got to the line to cut the Clippers’ lead to one at 92-91, he struggled to buy a bucket or a foul call in his favor. But Harden hit a three-pointer while he was unable to make his paint attempts. Jokic assisted Gordon for his ninth basket, but Murray’s error set up a Kawhi dunk and a six-point Denver deficit.
Finally, a two-man play between Murray and Jokic was completed with a bucket from Jokic, but Harden responded with a push shot on the other end. Murray attempted to paint a runner, but Kawhi took a step back. The last nail in the coffin was KCP’s clanker off the edge of the backboard, which the Nuggets were unable to stop in order to close the deficit. Despite one of Nikola Jokic’s worst shooting games of his career, Denver fell short 111–102.
Three Items
Although Jamal Murray is back, things are not perfect. Murray’s reintegration will be disruptive and require time. Throughout the first quarter, MPJ was blazing hot, making three-pointers left and right. However, in the second quarter, their attack fizzled out, converting just one of their final eight attempts. Down the stretch, they were completely ignored. Even with shooters at his disposal, Jokic frequently attempted but was unable to score. The Nuggets will simply need to figure it out. Murray and Jokic have to search for MPJ because he is unable to get his own shot. The two-man option between Murray and Jokic is tempting, but it can not be a full-game go-to with Jamal on a minutes restriction. Denver’s two best players ignoring every other player on the court might work when they can not miss, but it is a poor play when one is hurt and the other is having a bad game.
During the MVP period of Nikola Jokic, that was the worst game. Although he recorded an embarrassing triple-double with 22 / 15 / 10, Jokic is held to high standards in Denver, so his 9-for-32 performance is quite unusual. Even when Jokic is not scoring, he still manages to dominate the play on the floor and set up teammates in games where he lacks his shooting touch. The game escaped him tonight. He played the opposite style of ball that we are accustomed to seeing from the best player in the history of the game, not keeping his finger on its pulse. It is understandable that even a maestro occasionally makes a mistake, but losing this game in the final moments felt like the conductor tumbling into the orchestra pit. Fans of Denver are not used to seeing this sight, and it will not happen again for a while.
There is still some work to be done on the bench rotations. This has to do with Murray’s return as well, but the Clippers prevailed handily in the bench battle, which exacerbates the problem of them being outplayed and outmatched. Russell Westbrook really went to town on that team, and Julian Strawther had an especially bad game, although several of the players had respectable individual games that evening. With Braun and Watson collaborating well in transition, with Watson in particular playing well on defense against LA’s formidable and long-standing future Hall of Famers, Reggie finished with 14 points. However, in many respects, the whole was not as good as the sum of its parts, and Malone will have some restless nights figuring out how to strike the proper balance between preparing the players for the future and getting the combination just right.
The first quarter seemed so promising until everything fell apart, so it was a difficult defeat. Nevertheless, Nuggets supporters may write this one off as a strange incident that happened once and put it in the past thanks to Jokic’s shooting line. The fact that Murray is back and the Nuggets can plan their future development around that is what matters. I hope that the comeback to playing Jokic Ball is noticeable and that future games are a little less narrow-minded.