Without Nikola Jokic, the Denver Nuggets still beat the LA Clippers away from home
The final game of the day today, Saturday (January 14) takes place between the LA Clippers and the Denver Nuggets. With a bitter loss in the first leg away, the LA Clippers desperately need a win to avenge Denver.
Today, with the ability to play at the Crypto.com Arena and Nikola Jokic not being on the roster, this could not be a better opportunity for the LA Clippers to succeed. However, in this match, they also lacked the service of Paul George and the role of player Luke Kennard.
The first half was played with an extremely even position. The two teams struggled for each point until the last seconds of the match. No team has been better. Kawhi Leonard still shows his class with familiar midrange throws.
On the away side, Michael Porter Jr was equally excellent when he got 9 points in this round. The scenario of the second half is the same as the first half when no team took the initiative.
In this round, the players also took turns scoring, but no individual was too dominant. At the end of the second half, the LA Clippers temporarily led with a score of 58-57.
After the break, the visitors suddenly accelerated with a run of 11-2 in the middle of the half to take the initiative. The LA Clippers' hits in this round also lost the same accuracy as in the first two innings.
Therefore, at the end of the 3rd half, the Denver Nuggets temporarily took a 5 point lead (86-81) before the final round took place. Although the first half of the 4th half LA Clippers were about to equalize the score.
But with the Denver Nuggets' 12-2 run, it was like a bucket of cold water pouring down on the LA Clippers players. The distance has now been stretched to 2 digits, making the home team's audience dumbfounded.
The match went to the last minute when there was no strong response from the home team. The LA Clippers had to accept their second loss in a row when facing the Denver Nuggets. Final score 115-103.
Jamal Murray led the Denver Nuggets side with 24 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Michael Porter Jr is right behind with 22 points and 4 rebounds. Aaron Gordon also had a pretty good game with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists with FG up to 75%.
On the home side, as usual, Kawhi Leonard is still the leader with the same index as Murray with 24 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Sixth man Norman Powell also played well with 18 points and 4 rebounds.
Winning this match the Denver Nuggets temporarily overcame the Memphis Grizzlies to take the top spot in the West. This is also their 5th consecutive win. In the next round, they will be back at home to host Orlando Magic at 8 am on January 16.
On the LA Clippers side, this was the 7th loss in the last 10 games of the team. Coaching Tyronn Lue and his students should make adjustments if they don't want to be knocked out of the top 8.
In the next round, they will have an early match at 3 am on January 16 to welcome the Houston Rockets who are at the bottom of the rankings.
