The Denver Nuggets have advanced to the Western Conference semifinals!
With a decisive 120-101 win over the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 7 of the first round on Saturday night in the ‘Mile High City’, Denver, the Nuggets will take on the well-rested No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round.
“It feels good,” interim Nuggets coach David Adelman said, “but I also know we’re flying to O-K-C tomorrow.”
It was a total team effort and a balanced scoring attack with six players cracking double digits as Aaron Gordon led the group with 22 points, five assists, and one block, shooting 9-of-16 from the field in the victory. Christian Braun added 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Russell Westbrook each contributed 16 points and Michael Porter Jr. had 15.
“In playoffs we know that everybody needs to step up, offensively, defensively, whatever, energy-wise. And everybody who plays needs to contribute something,” Jokic said. “It was special today the guys did that.”
On the other side of the court, Kawhi Leonard posted 22 points, shooting 6-of-13 from the field.
“I don’t think this team was 30 points better than us,” Leonard said. “We saw that throughout the first six games of this series, but you’ve got to give them credit. They came out, ran hard in transition, got easy points and they made shots.”
Braun also played lock-down defense on ‘The Beard’, James Harden, who was held to seven points on 2-of-8 shooting, continuing the narrative that he does not show up in Game 7s.
“Everybody behind me allowed me to guard him. But I think maybe the biggest part was Russ,” Braun said. “He’s played against James, he’s played with James, so he knows his game. … The coaches trusted me tonight. We didn’t want to switch. They kept me on him all night. So, credit goes to those guys and the coaches.”
The No. 4 seeded Nuggets took Game 1 of the series before dropping back-to-back games to the No. 5 seeded Clippers. Bouncing back, Denver won two in a row, but fell short in Game 6, 111-105 in Los Angeles, which could have sealed the series.
They came home and took care of business in front of their fans, advancing in search of another NBA title after their dominant 2023 Championship run.
The Clippers got offense early from an unexpected source, Derrick Jones Jr. He scored seven quick points, while Braun kept the Nuggets close with five of his own to open the game.
Embed from Getty ImagesBoth teams’ stars got off to shaky starts. Jokic did not score his first points until he hit free throws at the midway point of the first quarter and Leonard found his first basket with 5:21 remaining in the period.
The Clippers held a five-point lead, 26-21, after the first 12 minutes of action.
The Nuggets opened the second quarter with a 7-0 run, tempering a hot start from Leonard, who went 3-of-5 from the field in the frame.
Denver took control of the quarter, outscoring the Clippers 37-21 to take a 58-47 lead into halftime.
Leonard led the Clippers with 14 points at the break, while Harden struggled mightily, going just 2-of-6 for seven points. Norman Powell, who was a borderline All-Star this season, chipped in four, and Ivica Zubac added eight. Braun paced the Nuggets with 11 points, while Gordon and Westbrook each scored 10, and Jokic had nine.
“The rebounding and defense was amazing,” Jokic said. “We had a lot of opportunities to run, and a lot of guys stepped up and a lot of guys made baskets.”
Coming out of the locker room, Denver turned up the heat and dominated, holding the Clippers to just seven points in nearly seven minutes, as they extended their lead to 24 points. With eight points each from Gordon and Braun, the Nuggets outscored the Clippers 35-19 while shooting 67% from the field compared to the Clippers’ 41%.
Westbrook put the exclamation on it after the Nuggets hit back-to-back buckets, punctuated by a steal that led to a massive dunk by the 36-year-old in his 17th year in the league. He energized the crowd, receiving a hanging-on-the-rim technical foul in the process, leading the Clippers to wave the white flag and empty their bench with under six minutes to go.
The Nuggets and Thunder series will kick off Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals on Monday in Oklahoma City.
