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The weight of a Game 7 competition will weigh more on the Los Angeles Clippers, the Denver Nuggets believe.
“For us, Game 7 is just another game,” said Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.
Jokic had 34 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists, as the Nuggets stunned the Clippers 111-98 in Game 6 of their Western Conference semifinal on Sunday in the NBA bubble near Orlando.
Game 7 is on Wednesday. The winner faces the Los Angeles Lakers in the conference final.
Jokic made 13 of 22 shots from the ground, including four of six triples. Jamal Murray scored 21 points, Gary Harris added 16 and Michael Porter Jr. had 13 for the third-seeded Nuggets, who outscored the second-seeded Clippers 64-35 in the second half.
“It was just amazing,” Denver coach Michael Malone told the media after the game. “We had 11 stops in a row at one point. Coming into this round, they were the number one offense in the playoffs, so I’m running out of adjectives, superlatives, whatever you want to call it to speak on our team because that’s a tough, tough group, you know. -than. I love our team. “
Paul George had 33 points, six rebounds and five steals for the Clippers, who are trying to advance to their first Western Conference final. They are 0-7 in franchise history in previous attempts to get there.
Kawhi Leonard contributed 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Lou Williams had 14 points. JaMychal Green was 11.
“I just gave up the lead again, pretty much,” said Leonard, who made eight of 18 shots and three of five triples. “They went down and scored or missed them in the third quarter, and we couldn’t buy a basket. This is how they came back. “
The Nuggets will attempt to become the first NBA club to rebound from a 3-1 deficit in consecutive series. They did it against the Utah Jazz in the first round. And Leonard said the Clippers need to be prepared for what the Nuggets have in store for them.
“I just have to put it all down,” Leonard said. “Make sure you pay attention to detail, execute and communicate on the defensive side. That is all we can do. Go out there and play hard and make sure we know the game plan. “
Sunday’s game plan seemed to go well for Los Angeles in the first half. The Clippers built a 16-point lead at halftime and rose to 19 points early in the third quarter. But the Nuggets beat them 30-16 in the third and took control in the fourth.
Clippers coach Doc Rivers said the game turned around when Murray, who appeared to have been blown away, crashed to the ground after a third-quarter collision under the basket with George.
“I thought once Murray suffered that injury, from that point on, the complexion of the game completely changed,” Rivers said. “I thought we were the most physical team, we were attacking, we were getting into the paint. And from that moment on, it was the reverse of the scripts. “- Reuters
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