After a thrilling win against the Lakers, the LA Clippers look to continue their winning ways against the Denver Nuggets.
It was an exciting opening night against the Los Angeles Lakers. Outside of a rough second quarter, the LA Clippers scored a wire-to-wire victory against their cross-town rivals. They’ll now look to take that energy into Denver against the Nuggets.
In the regular season last year, the Clippers won 2 of 3 games, scoring an average of 120 points per game. Paul George was particularly effective against Denver in the regular season, shooting 59% from three on 8.5 shots from deep per game.
In the playoffs, well, we all know what happened there. After going up 3-1, everybody on the team went cold, and to quote my favorite movie, that’s all I have to say about that.
The Clippers will certainly want to avenge their loss to this Nuggets squad in the playoffs, and they made the roster moves to do so. Exchanging Serge Ibaka for Montrezl Harrell ensures that Nikola Jokic won’t have the pleasure of being guarded by a 6’8 center.
Really, the Clippers have a great big man rotation to go against the Nuggets; there will always be a good defensive 5 on the floor, and Jokic will always have to work for his numbers. If Zubac and Serge can slow the Serbian big man down, that will go a long way toward getting another notch in the win column.
The Clippers’ wings will have their hands full slowing down the scoring attack of Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. for Denver, but it’s safe to assume that they will be able to find their shots against a Denver wing rotation that’s a bit light on defense.
On the injury front for the LA Clippers, Marcus Morris will miss the game with knee soreness which also kept him out of the Lakers game. For the Nuggets, JaMychal Green won’t make his reunion after leaving the Clippers to join Denver. His calf will keep him out of this game after also causing him to miss the season opener for the Nuggets.
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