The Denver Nuggets have advanced to the Western Conference Semifinals following a 120-101 blowout win over the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 7 at Ball Arena on Saturday. The Nuggets never looked back in this one after seizing control in the second quarter and have now set up a titanic clash with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
For once, Nikola Jokic, who had 16 points (6-14 FG), 10 rebounds, eight assists, three steals, and one block, wasn’t the star of the show for the Nuggets. It was a complete team effort, with six Nuggets scoring in double digits. Aaron Gordon had a team-high 22 points (9-16 FG), four rebounds, five assists, one steal, and one block. Christian Braun, meanwhile, finished with 21 points (8-15 FG), five rebounds, four assists, and one steal.
So many Nuggets stepping up, combined with the Clippers’ struggles, saw the lead grow to as many as 35 points at one stage. This was complete domination, and NBA fans had some interesting reactions to it.
“The Clippers will always be the Clippers,” a fan roasted the Clippers for coming up short again.
“’Jokic hasn’t beaten a 50-win team.’ What next?” a fan is glad that Jokic silenced some of his critics.
“James Harden, my brother in basketball, you are never beating the allegations,” one fan called James Harden out for failing in a big moment again.
“Healthy Kawhi, greatest player of all time, outplayed by Christian Braun and the fossil of Russell Westbrook in a win-or-go-home Game 7,” one fan roasted Kawhi Leonard.
“Russell Westbrook tilted the momentum of this game. Again, the playoffs are not about spacing and +/- it’s who will cook under pressure and break patterns,” a fan hailed Russell Westbrook for his play in Game 7.
Russell Westbrook was indeed immense for the Nuggets. Westbrook had 16 points (5-9 FG), five rebounds, five assists, and five steals against the Clippers. He played a big role in the Nuggets taking control in that second quarter with his hustle and made quite a point against his former team.
While Westbrook came up big, James Harden certainly did not. Harden had seven points (2-8 FG), five rebounds, 13 assists, two steals, and one block against the Nuggets. He was effective as a playmaker but made little to no impact from a scoring standpoint.
As for Kawhi Leonard, he had 22 points (6-13 FG), five rebounds, two assists, and two blocks. It wasn’t vintage Leonard by any means, but he got little to no help from the rest of the team. No other Clipper even scored 15 points on the night, and this was just a terrible performance.
The Clippers are going to be left wondering what might have been if Game 4 in Los Angeles had ended differently. That game looked set to go to overtime, but Gordon managed to dunk an errant Jokic shot at the buzzer to give the Nuggets the win and tie the series at 2-2.
The Clippers had to win a game in Denver to advance following that loss, and they ended up getting blown out in Games 5 and 7. It will be interesting to see what changes they make this offseason after a third straight first-round exit. They had the injury excuse the last two years, but that wasn’t the case this time around.
The Nuggets, meanwhile, will now shift their focus to the Thunder, who have been resting for quite some time now after sweeping the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round. You’d have to make the top-seeded Thunder the favorites, but it should be a fascinating series.
