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Nuotr.: USA Today Sports-Scanpix
Nuotr. USA Today Sports-Scanpix
The Denver Nuggets will have a chance to make history the following night, becoming the first NBA team to eliminate a 1-3 series deficit twice in a one-season playoff.
On the other side of the barricades is the Clippers Club of Los Angeles, which has a kind of curse: the team that never played in the Western Conference final had 7 chances to enter this stage, but lost all seven games.
For Clippers fans, the current situation should be extremely disappointing, as the Los Angeles team held a 16-point lead in Game 5 and a 19-point lead in Game 6.
The BasketNews.lt website provides an overview of how and why the Denver team managed to return to this series.
Although it sounds patterned and simple, watching the last two games gives the impression that the main difference between these teams is their character. Had the huge deficit turned into a back kick for the Nuggets, a solid lead would have put the Clippers to sleep, and if they lost their lead at the usual pace, the Los Angeles team couldn’t come back.
As the Nuggets slept in the first half of Game 5, the Clippers successfully went ahead and shone with confidence: Paul George, Montrezl Harrell and Patrick Beverley made no secret of their emotions.
The Nuggets themselves contributed a lot to all of this. Denver basketball players seemed sluggish on defense and allowed Clippers players to throw extremely favorable shots. One of those episodes was when Harrell freely bounced the ball in the penalty area and Mason Plumlee, as if fully compliant with safety requirements during the pandemic, had backed away from the Clippers forward by a good 2-3 yards.
Harrell simply shone in the face of no serious resistance float and credited two points to his account and that of the team.
Still, it wasn’t the worst episode in the Nuggets defense. In the second half, Landry Shamet was so free at the three-point line that he would have thrown two separate shots without a problem.
Without question, the defender’s long shot broke the net and the Clippers gained a solid lead: 48:33.
The Nuggets’ problems weren’t limited to defense. Attacks by Michael Malone’s students stalled on the Clippers defense and it was also difficult to create good shooting opportunities. In the first half of Game 5, the Nuggets scored just three 3-pointers of 11, while the Clippers scored 9 of 17. Additionally, Denver basketball players lost three balls in the second minute and a half.
After a long break, the Nuggets came back much better and played with much more energy on defense. Nikola Jokičius, who is often used by weaker defenders, was even able to steal the ball from Kawhi Leonardo, but the latter scored a triple late in the third quarter and it seemed the Nuggets’ attempts to catch up were broken: the Denver team was 67:80 behind.
However, there was still a minute and a half to go to the end of the third quarter, and the Nuggets, led by Paul Millsap, managed to finish the quarter 6: 0 and instantly returned to the game (73:80).
It was in the fourth quarter that the Clippers began to crumble: due to poor traffic defense from Los Angeles basketball players, the Nuggets racked up easy points, and Jokičius and Jamalas Murray took the lead 16: 6 and broke the game – 102: 94.
At the end of the duel, the young Michael Porter shone, who made a very important triple, and already blocked Ivica Zubaco’s launch from the other side of the field.
The numbers also speak volumes: Clippers scored 4 points out of 12 (33%) and 3 points out of 13 (23%) in the fourth quarter. By comparison, the Nuggets had 4 points of 9 (44 percent) and 7 long shots of 9 (78 percent).
Similarly, the story unfolded in the sixth game. Early in the third quarter, Leonard scored penalties and increased the Clippers’ lead to 18 points (73:55), and soon after, one of the Nuggets wizards, Murray, fell to the ground. Still, the Canadian returned to the game, but it seems the Los Angeles basketball players’ thoughts were already on the Western Conference final at the time.
The Nuggets managed to finish 22: 6 in the third quarter and edged closer to two points. At the time, the impression was that the Clippers had found their hands in the deciding quarter. Lou Williams was unable to pass the ball from his side of the field for 8 seconds, and until then the ball was successfully moved by the Clippers and he again tried to solve everything with individual actions.
Not only that, the defensive efforts of both teams differed like night and day. Remember Shamet’s 3-pointer in Game 5? Here’s how much space Torrey Craig had in the fourth quarter with an equal score:
Doc Rivers tried so desperately to inspire his students that he took his last minute break with more than 2 minutes to play. Still, immediately after the team meeting, the Clippers fumbled and the Nuggets put up a productive attack and closed the game.
Los Angeles basketball players’ assessment of the situation at key moments was also questionable. Several attacks ended in a bad launch, despite the fact that there were 15 seconds or more to go to the end of the attack.
The greatest burden of the attack fell on George and Leonard. Understandably, these basketball players are the Clippers’ brightest stars. Still, both George and Leonard had to create opportunities for themselves and played basketball one-on-one in elementary school.
That’s what Clippers head coach Rivers emphasized.
“We played amazing basketball, but we stopped. The movement of the ball also stopped, we stopped attacking aggressively in attack, – said Rivers after the sixth game. – The Nuggets allowed us to catch up. It’s funny because we usually say that at the end of the game the defense orders us, but I think tonight it was an attack. “
Not to mention Jokičius, who played impressively throughout the series, and especially in the last two games, scoring an average of 28 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists.
Tough shots through opponents and one-off passes at times drove the Clippers to despair. One of those episodes was in Game 6, when the Serbian overruled George’s excellent defense.
Speaking after this match, Jokičius was also well aware of what he was saying: “We didn’t feel any pressure. All the pressure is on his shoulders. “
The Clippers are still the favorites of the pair, but as Jokičius suggested, the last two meetings have shown that in extreme situations, the Nuggets are much more confident than Los Angeles basketball players.
Those who will win the Seventh Nervous War and take a historic step in the club’s history can be seen tonight, at 4 pm Lithuanian time.
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