Aaron Gordon does unthinkable and eliminates comeback Clippers thought they had

Coming from a 34-point win in game three, the LA Clippers should have played better in the first 36 minutes of game four. They were not physical on defense, especially on Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, and sent lousy close-outs to Michael Porter Jr., who made them pay.

However, no lead is secure in the playoffs until the referees whistle the game over. The Clippers had made major comebacks in the first round before, like against the Golden State Warriors in 2019, and tried to stamp a repeat today in the fourth after being down 22.

Furthermore, the Clippers did come back and were up 97-96 after Bogdan Bogdanović got an offensive rebound and laid the ball up from a Kawhi Leonard miss.

The teams went on to trade field goals, but with seconds left, Aaron Gordon crashed the glass without being boxed out and dunked an air-ball attempt from Jokic to win the game.

Aaron Gordon’s last-second dunk must be a reminder to the LA Clippers to always seal their man on a box out

The three-time MVP, Nikola Jokic, tried to shoot a three-point fadeaway with contests from Ivica Zubac and Kawhi Leonard. There was barely any time left, and though he air-balled, Aaron Gordon rose on the offensive glass, untouched, and put the game away with his fingertips on the iron.

Every LA Clippers player was in disbelief. Because the officials' first ruling was a made basket, the review center did not provide enough proof to overturn the slam.

The pain of losing on a play like this leaves an unattended wound as the Clippers had the momentum of the game and the crowd. They did almost everything right to go up 3-1, but one major mistake evened the series returning to Ball Arena Tuesday evening.

This is a lesson for every player in the LA Clippers’ playoff rotation to box out at all times. Head coach Tyronn Lue was also destructive, as he had Nicolas Batum and Kris Dunn, two potent rebounders, watching from their seats.

For context, Batum and Dunn are amidst the Clippers' leaders in boards. This was a brutal fallacy from Lue, as he could have substituted both while the Nuggets were occupied drawing up a play for Jokic in timeout.

Gordon completed the highlight play tonight, but in previous games, Russell Westbrook has hustled more emphatically, showing his will to win in the postseason.