The Denver Nuggets gave the Los Angeles Clippers as much as they could handle in Game 3, but after the fourth quarter ahead, the series is around where we expected after three games. The Nuggets are 2-1 up after the Clippers trailed their two superstars by 113-107 on Monday. Paul George carried the offensive load with 32 points in a 12-of-18 shooting, but it was Kavi Leonard who sealed the deal with his middle finger with a crucial barrier from Jamal Murray.
The knot, meanwhile, cost Nicola Jokic an impressive trip as his All-Star center finished the game with 32 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. The difference was Murray’s inability to give a secondary scoring, as he went 5-of-17 off the field when Patrick Beverly knocked him out in the entire series. The pressure is now on the Nuggets. If they can’t answer in Game 4, they can finish just like in Game 5.
Nug needs Dr. Jekyll, not Mr. Hyde
Jamal Murray has always been running hot and cold, but these posts have not been ridiculous. He has four games between 36-50 points, but four games are less than 15 years old. Game 3 against the Clippers was yet another clicker. He hit a 5-of-17 off the field, making it 37.7 percent in shooting against the Clippers. Patrick Beverly is at least somewhat responsible. He has played lockdown defense at Murray for several series. There the thigh injury also became more severe in the last round.
But after Denver’s first-round series against Utah, it looked like Murray had stepped up his long-running streakness. He looked like a superstar when the Nuggets needed him the most. Well, now they need it again, and it disappeared on Monday. If this happens again on Wednesday, the series is over.
Welcome back, playoff p
Paul George’s playoff history has been taken apart from Adnbm, especially since his slow start against the Dallas Mavericks. But in his last five games? George averaged 24.6 points at 49.4 percent shooting from the ground and 43.6 percent from behind the arc. He scored 32 points in a game on Monday in which his best teammates struggled. While Kavi Leonard made plenty of big plays, he finished with just 23 points in a 1-of-6 shooting behind the arc. Lou Williams was right on the field 4-of-11, but he is the two primary shot-makers for the Clippers. When they are off, the whole team should be off.
They weren’t because eventually Paul George starts to look like Paul George again. That has been true on both ends of the floor. His help was crucial in slowing down the defense Murray and also in resisting Nikola Joaquin, who made the clippers the delicacy of big men. George’s first four playoff games were devastating, but he later needed a sidekick poet to make him the Clippers champion.
How can the switch be easily flipped?
Clippers, are on balance, where they should be. They are leading a substandard opponent by three games in the second-round series. But what happened in the first part of the series, and what happened against Dallas in the first round, has to do with the Clippers. Their effort is almost not consistent enough. Clippers supporters would argue that they are so smart that they can easily flip the switch and dominate anyone, but it took another half to get the ship right in front of Denver.
Historically, some claimants have managed to escape from the coast until maximum effort is absolutely necessary. But those teams, like the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat of the past decade, had championship experience and the following year was chemistry. When effort is missing it all, course-correction is fairly easy.
But that’s not all there is to missing efforts with clippers. They lack the memory of the muscles that made the Celtics or LeBron James-teams special. Even when they are playing at full speed, not knowing instantly what fellow players will do leads to stagnant offense and an easy bucket at the other end. The clippers aren’t there yet. His starting lineup was playing less than 150 minutes in a regular season. LeBron James and Anthony Davis played 1,456 minutes together in the regular season. Leonard and George were below 900.
This is not a cookie-cutter roster. George and Leonard are not inherently complementary players. They have many other ball-handlers that still accommodate secondary roles. They have now had to play a two-pronged offensive opponent, throwing tactical consistency to one side on defense. Clippers just can’t believe their talent will strip the field. They can’t afford to jog through the quarters and games, as the Nuggets may not be good enough to make money on it, the Lakers, the Rockets and whatever comes out of the Eastern Conference are certainly.
