Clippers Season Ends in Disappointment as Nuggets Take Series in Lopsided Game Seven

At the end of the NBA playoffs, only one team will be left.

That doesn’t make losing at any stage of the postseason any easier, especially if the team losing is one with extremely high expectations.

That was certainly the case for the Clippers.

(Photo by Grant Burke/NBAE via Getty Images)

While they lasted a bit longer than their cross-town rivals, Los Angeles is going home in the first round after a brutal loss against a tough, seasoned Nuggets team. They had one chance to close things out, but couldn’t find a way to slam the door.

In fact, they barely showed up.

Ending with a Whimper

The Clippers/Nuggets series was a tight affair for most of the way through.

It began with an overtime affair, then progressed to several close games that went down to the final few minutes. It concluded in a much less thrilling manner.

The Clippers, inspired by their game six loss, and came out swinging in game seven

They hit the Nuggets hard and pushed to a solid five point lead after the first quarter. That is where their momentum ended. Denver hit back in the next two quarters in a way only a championship-caliber team can.

The home team steamrolled LA in the second quarter, taking it 37-21, before winning the third quarter by 14.

The game was all-but over at that point

While both franchises went through the motions down the stretch, the Nuggets cruised to an easy 120-101 victory.

It was a huge win for a team who lost their head coach only a few weeks ago, and a testament to their resilience. The Clippers are a strong squad with a lot of talent.

Denver could have crumbled after losing game six, or they could have stumbled after giving away the first quarter. Rather, they bounced back in every possible way.

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A Wealth of Contributions

Both the Clippers and Nuggets rely on their star power. So much so, that the big names dominated the narrative going into game seven.

However, it wasn’t the superstars that won the game for Denver, it was everyone else

While Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic are one of the strongest duos in the NBA, Denver had little interest in playing hero ball.

Everyone contributed in their own way, setting up good shots, getting to the rim, and spreading the ball around the court.

Aaron Gordon (22 points) and Christian Baun (21 points) both led the way, but the Nuggets had four other players in double digits. They all scored more than 15.

That varied attack was almost impossible for the Clippers to stop, stretching their defense and keeping them on their heels.

“In playoffs we know that everybody needs to step up, offensively, defensively, whatever, energy-wise. And everybody who plays needs to contribute something,” said Jokic. “It was special today, the guys did that.”

The Clippers seemed to be ready for Murray and Jokic, but they weren’t prepared to take on the entire team at once.

It was a good play by Denver, and one that turned what could have been a tough contest into an easy ride.

Always Next Year

The win was huge for the Nuggets, who have true championship aspirations. For Los Angeles, there’s no way to see the series as anything other than a wasted opportunity.

They’ve struggled with several injuries over the past few seasons, not to mention a lack of depth, but this year everything finally came together.

Leonard was back and as skilled as ever, Harden was hitting from long range, they had a strong number three in Norman Powell, as well as a great center in Ivica Zubac.

Even so, all of their energy couldn’t keep up with the Nuggets

The Clippers made too many mistakes throughout the series. Even while they did win some close games and battle back from 2-3, they also blew game one and fumbled a prime opportunity to close things out at home in game six. Against Denver, they needed to be better.

Where their opponent got hot, LA went cold. Leonard put in 22 points, but the usual supporting cast did next to nothing. James Harden only scored 7 points and Norman Powell put up 9. Ivica Zubac scored just 10 as well.

Those four were the LA’s lifeblood for the series, and when they went cold everything fell apart

The team has a lot of potential, it just didn’t get realized when it mattered most. Now, the team is looking ahead to next season.

“James having to carry such a heavy load with Kawhi missing 45 games and just having to carry that load all season long, he did a great job with that,” said Clippers coach Tyronn Lue. “...Those two together for a whole season, I think would be tremendous.”

There is a lot of potential with the current roster. Clippers fans might be tired of hearing that, but it’s all they have right now.

Next season isn’t too far away, and if everyone stays healthy, they might be able to make some noise.

Or at least get back the first round.