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DENVER — The Clippers fall to the Denver Nuggets 131-115 behind a big night from Jamal Murray on Tuesday night. Los Angeles has now loss two straight games to the Nuggets. The Clippers are now on the brink of elimination as they trail the series 3-2 and must win on Thursday night in Game 6 to keep their season alive.
Here are some takeaways from the Clippers loss to the Nuggets:
Murray & Westbrook outshine Clipper guards
Coming into this series most pundits knew the winner would come down to who received the best guard and so far this series it’s been Denver with the advantage.
Tonight was no difference as Jamal Murray and a returning Russell Westbrook outperform the Clippers guards.
Murray scored 40 or more points for the 6th time in his playoff career. He finished the game with 43 points, seven assists and five rebounds.
Westbrook was return after missing Game 4 win and he gave the Clippers fits early. He scored 16 of his 21 points in the first half and gave the Nuggets an early spark.
The two Nuggets guards combined to scored 64 points while the Clippers four primary guards combined to score just 56 points.
James Harden, who has had a Hall of Fame worth career is hoping to add a championship to his resume but once again he is having a lack luster playoff performance. Harden is needed to perform at his peak for the Clippers to win but for the second straight game he struggled. He finished with just 11 points and five assists. Not enough for the Clippers to win.
Norman Powell, I always viewed as an X-factor for Los Angeles. Since his injury before the All Star break, he has been up-and-down with his play. In such a big game he struggled from deep making just one of five three-point attempts. He scored 12 points in the loss.
If the Clippers hope to get his series back to Denver, their guard play will have to be much better or their season will be done after Thursday night.
Clips try to play catch up again
For the second straight game the Clippers had to try to comeback from a 20-point deficit in the fourth quarter and for the second straight game they come up short.
The Clippers got down as much as 22 points in the final period after a Westbrook jump shot.
Los Angeles once again made a surge cutting to lead to 9 points at 116-107 with 4:01 remaining when Ivica Zubac knocked down one of two free throws.
That would be the closes they would get this time. Denver finished the game on an 11-0 run over the next minute and 30 seconds to put the game away.
The Clippers aren’t built to continue to try to come back from being down big margins.
Los Angeles has to find a way to get stops early they didn’t do it tonight.
Denver scored 32 or more points in each quarter tonight showing Clippers had no resistance.
Tonight Denver was just the better team and they pounced on the Clippers early and didn’t all this game to come down to the buzzer.
No blame on Zu
The one positive that Clipper fans can take away from this game is that Ivica Zubac is the real deal and has matched Nikola Jokic most of this series.
Tonight, Zubac led the way for the Clippers scoring 27 points and adding two blocks. He scored 14 of his 27 in the fourth quarter as the Clippers tried to make a comeback.
Though Jokic picked up another triple double it was a tough game for Jokic. Los Angeles three different match ups at him to make it tough.
Los Angeles should make sure that Zubac continues to get his touches to force Jokic to defend and that may help them pick up a win in Game 6 on Thursday night.