The main reason to feel confident in the Clippers heading into Game 7 was because of Kawhi Leonard’s experience on this stage. “And I just didn’t think - you know, even though the numbers say we are a good defensive team - I just think we didn’t ever realize that part of our game at all.” Kawhi Leonard and Paul George combined for 24 points.
“You hope that you can lean on your defense,” Doc Rivers said postgame. LA couldn’t keep up with Denver, but that wasn’t because the Nuggets were beating the Clippers up and down the floor rather, they were beating them horizontally, exploiting all of the gaps in the half court against an LA defense that clearly wasn’t on the same page. The Nuggets won the pace battle, and they won the game. The Clippers like to force turnovers and run and attack mismatches in early offense. The Nuggets are at their best when they are deliberate, working the shot clock to find every possible passing angle, to make to one final cut to break the defense. Denver got that pace down to 94.5 over the past three games, and Game 7 was played even slower than that. The Clippers averaged 102.2 possessions during the regular season, eighth-most in the league, compared to 97.6 for the Nuggets. The pace of the game was 92.5.īefore the game, Jovan Buha of The Athletic pointed out that the pace of the game had been a strong predictor of which team would have an advantage.
Here are three stats that stand out from LA’s season-ending loss.
They had a double-digit lead in the first half, but they were only up two at halftime, and then Denver went on what has become a patented second-half run to take control in the third quarter, eventually winning comfortably. The Clippers were the lesser team in Game 7 against the Nuggets.
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