Game 3: August 12, 2020 – LAC 124, DEN 111
The two faced off once in the 8 seeding games in the bubble, with the Clippers taking home the 13 point win.
This is the game to take something from. These teams were in their bubble form (but gotta say that the Nuggets were missing Gary Harris, to be fair).
For the Clippers, this was a case of their best players showing up to carry the team. Kawhi, PG, Zubac, and Lou combined for 91 of the team’s 124 points. On defense, the team managed to stop Jokic from pouring in the points, holding him to 17. But the big man diced them up with his passing, racking up 13 assists.
This was a back and forth game for much of it. The 13 point differential at the end was LA’s biggest lead, and Denver led by as many as 8 points in the third quarter.
But then, the 4th quarter started. Two minutes into the quarter, Lou Williams hit a layup to give the Clippers the lead, and Denver would never catch up again.
This was a game where it’s hard to say a whole lot went right for the Clips. The Nuggets had more rebounds, more assists, fewer fouls, and a similar 3 point percentage. But the Clippers found a way. The toughness and willingness to fight it out even when things weren’t going great served the Clippers well in round one and should continue to during the Denver series.