Clippers Steamroll Over Nuggets

Do the right thing.

He was emphatic and was confident that his team could play better and had to play better even though the Clippers stole home-court advantage away from the Nuggets by winning Game 2 in the ‘Mile High City’, Denver.

That did not matter to Clippers coach Tyronn Lue.

What mattered in the end to Lue was his team pushing themselves to a higher level against the Nuggets.

The Clippers found another gear, fielding a stingy defense and a balanced scoring attack that helped them build a commanding 31-point lead on their way to a convincing 117-83 win over the Nuggets on Thursday night. The enthusiastic crowd celebrated the first playoff game ever hosted at the Intuit Dome, in Inglewood, California.

Six Clippers scored in double figures and that was a big reason they now have a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference first-round playoff series.

After a slow start to the series, Norman Powell appears to have found his stride, scoring 20 points on seven-for-12 shooting. Kawhi Leonard had a double-double with 21 points and 11 boards in 35 minutes. James Harden scored all 20 of his points in the first half to go along with nine assists and six rebounds.

Ivica Zubac had 19 points and nine rebounds, Nicholas Batum came off the bench to score 12 points, doing his damage by going four for six from beyond the arc, and Derrick Jones Jr. had 10 points.

“We can play better, we got to play better,” Lue said prior to tipoff. “We have to play better, and that’s our mindset. Like, we got a win there, but I think we still can play better.”

The Clippers played perhaps their best defense of the season, holding the Nuggets to 40.3% shooting and 26.9% from distance range, while keeping their offense dismantled all game.

With four minutes and 34 seconds left and the Nuggets about to go down by 26 points, Nuggets interim coach David Adelman raised the white flag and pulled his starters to get them ready for Game 4 at the Intuit Dome on Saturday afternoon.

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic had his second straight triple-double and the 20th of his playoff career, with 23 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists, but the Clippers overcame his outstanding play.

Harden set the tone early for the Clippers, his shot-making and passing allowing them to open a seven-point lead to end the first quarter.

Harden scored 11 of the Clippers’ final 16 points in the first and assisted on three more when he found Batum for a three-pointer with 1.5 seconds remaining in the first. Harden had 20 points in the first half on six-for-10 shooting and three for five from downtown.

It allowed the Clippers to run away and hide, building a 20-point lead in the second quarter, extending it as the crowd cheered on the dominant performance.