Nuggets are beaten hard by Clippers

First quarter

The Nuggets looked like they had forgotten how to play basketball early in this game. The Clippers played relatively normal for them – Norman Powell hit a three-pointer, Derrick Jones Jr. got a dunk, they had 7 points in the first 4 minutes. Either way, it’s not an unreasonable number. The Nuggets, on the other hand, had two early turnovers, a smorgasbord of missed layups and a total of two points in the first four minutes.

From then on, the only thing that could be resolved was Nikola Jokic. Peyton Watson started in place of Aaron Gordon, who was brought off the bench to get him back into the game after being out since November 4th. He looked like he did at the start of the season – out of shape. The Nuggets also looked confused on defense. There were several possessions where the Clippers created easy looks through backdoor cuts and the Nuggets’ late rotations. Nikola had 15 points in the first quarter and played all 12 minutes. He made 7 of 10 shots from the field and the rest of the team shot 3 of 13 from the floor. It was Jokic and no one else as the Nuggets lost 23-32 after the first frame.

Second quarter

The team has a sense of humor, however, because as soon as Jokic was substituted, they went on a 17-8 run, cutting the lead to 3 points. Jamal Murray quickly scored five points early in the quarter and then threw a stupid turnover. Russ missed a few layups, but a putback layup from Julian Strawther got him going a little. He had also previously shot a small floater and then scored 1-1. That flurry of 7 points brought them within 6 points. The Clippers scored here or there, mostly through Jordan Miller, who had eight points before the 6-minute mark in the quarter. The last shot before a timeout came from a three-pointer by Aaron Gordon, which was nice to see.

Then Jokic checked back in and the momentum continued for a while, increasing by as much as 4. Which, hey, you’ll probably accept that after the Nuggets’ start. However, they didn’t last forever and the defense was lackluster at times again led to the Clippers getting back on track. The two teams ended the half tied at 59.

Third quarter

The third quarter was very back and forth in the first six minutes. A Peyton Watson layup here, a James Harden bucket there, oh look! A setback from Nikola Jokic. Oh holy smoke! Amir Coffey is up! They traded tons, that’s what I mean. The Nuggets’ offense seemed pretty solid, and they ended up going on a solid run, going up by 10. Michael Porter Jr., Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon were all involved at different times . The offense clicked, but tell me as you read this – it can never be that damn easy.

The Nuggets released James Harden after they started helping on drives. Guess who they left open to help? James Harden! Why?!? Why would you do that? They did it on consecutive possessions too! Just play some defense against the statistically second best shooter of all time. Probably not? Well, that gave the Clippers the spark they needed and gave them a run at the end that put them ahead by 2 at 92-90 going into the final frame.

Fourth quarter

The fourth quarter sucked. It was bad. Let me flip through a thesaurus real quick. The fourth quarter was as follows; terrible, terrible, inferior, lousy, poor, terrible, vile, cruel, careless, deficient, unsatisfactory, flawed, imperfect, shabby, second-rate, inferior, unacceptable and uncouth. The Nuggets couldn’t defend Air Bud in the fourth quarter. There isn’t much analysis to be done here. The Nuggets weren’t good enough – a theme that comes up all too often. Clippers win 126-122.

What you should hear

Fuck it, another drinking song. This is about a crew who uses voodoo to turn the ship around. Maybe the Nuggets should take some notes! And maybe you need something to drink. Maybe I need some sleep. Enjoy.

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