After an exhilarating collection matchup stuffed with twists and turns, the Denver Nuggets versus the Los Angeles Clippers got here all the way down to a Recreation 7 decider.
And it’s the Nuggets who emerged victorious to reside for an additional day and proceed that NBA championship hunt.
In a dominant style, the Nuggets utterly shut down the Clippers’ NBA Playoff window, stamping a 120-101 win-or-go-home victory to enter the ultimate 4 of the Western Convention bracket.
Demonstrating a collective assault, Denver overwhelmed LA with six gamers scoring 15+ factors. Aaron Gordon led the cost with 22 factors, and Christian Braun went off for 21.
As Nikola Jokic had a quiet offensive night time, ending with 16 factors and 10 boards, it was Russell Westbrook who served as the person of the night time for the Mile Excessive Metropolis.
His off-the-bench efficiency of 16 factors, 5 boards, 5 assists, and 5 steals served because the Nuggets’ X-factor to place the nail within the coffin of the Clippers’ season.
Profitable the powerful and grinding seven-game matchup, the Nuggets will instantly regroup as they’ll face the NBA-leading Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder for the second spherical, for which Shaquille O’Neal already had a daring prediction.
The Clippers marvellously battled in opposition to the Nuggets all collection lengthy, and it’s undoubtedly disappointing that they couldn’t maintain it for an important recreation.
Out of this brutal Recreation 7 collapse, James Harden now finds himself the first topic of scrutiny, not solely with Clippers followers but additionally throughout the NBA world.
It appeared that the lights of Recreation 7 had been means too shiny for him to deal with, as simply when he was wanted essentially the most, he utterly vanished.
After a stellar Recreation 6 show to maintain their season alive, Harden laid an egg and did not ship for Los Angeles. Throughout 35 minutes, he completed with an terrible 7-point output.
He would possibly’ve dished loads of beauty for his teammates with 12 assists, however Harden’s 2-8 taking pictures makes an attempt stand because the lowest amongst the Clippers starters.
Left alone main, Kawhi Leonard’s 22 factors weren’t sufficient to single-handedly carry the Clippers.
As such, his assertion speaks volumes when requested if he’s considerably inspired that he and Harden can proceed what they managed to construct this season.
“I don’t know proper now,” Leonard stated in his postgame interview. “I assume we’re nonetheless enjoying at a excessive stage, in a way. However that’s a tough query to reply proper now.”
“I assume we simply did a superb job through the season. Lots of people counted us out, such as you guys stated, however we had been in a position to get right here,” Leonard added. “Nonetheless, simply getting right here is rarely the objective.”
To be honest, Harden served because the driving pressure of the Clippers’ assertion season. If it wasn’t for him, LA would possibly by no means have been in a position to show their doubters unsuitable and attain this stage of the 2024-25 marketing campaign.
As Leonard missed the preliminary portion of the season, it was Harden who guided the Clippers to keep up their rivalry standing.
However as it’s, it’s simply disheartening to see how the Clippers’ promising yr unfolded as Harden utterly light below strain. After they had a chance to place themselves in entrance with the collection tied 2-2 in opposition to Denver, the All-Star guard was a no-show as properly in Recreation 5.
With Leonard lastly wholesome to play, many have thought that this could be it for the Clippers that they’ll be the No. 1 workforce within the NBA.
However with every thing on the road, Harden couldn’t rise to the event, which simply amplifies the brutal notion of Invoice Simmons concerning his basketball legacy.
