He insisted that his group may play higher and needed to play higher though the Clippers snatched home-court benefit away from the Nuggets by successful Recreation 2 in Denver.
That didn’t matter to Clippers coach Tyronn Lue.
What mattered to Lue was his group pushing itself to a better degree in opposition to the Nuggets.
The Clippers discovered one other gear, fielding a stingy protection and a balanced scoring assault that helped them construct a 31-point lead en path to a convincing 117-83 win over the Nuggets on Thursday night time. The rowdy crowd celebrated the primary playoff recreation ever hosted on the Intuit Dome.
Clippers ahead Kawhi Leonard scores in entrance of Nuggets middle Nikola Jokic Thursday night time on the Intuit Dome.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Occasions)
Six Clippers scored in double figures and that was an enormous purpose they now have a 2-1 lead within the Western Convention first-round playoff sequence.
“We got to build off it. It’s only two games, but today I liked our approach,” Lue mentioned. “I liked what we did defensively. It’s still going to be a tough series. It ain’t over cause we had a blowout. It’s only one game. So, we got to be ready to come and validate that on Saturday.”
After a gradual begin to the sequence, Norman Powell seems to have discovered his groove, scoring 20 factors on seven-for-12 capturing.
Kawhi Leonard had a double-double with 21 factors and 11 rebounds in 35 minutes.
James Harden scored all 20 of his factors within the first half to go together with 9 assists and 6 rebounds.
Ivica Zubac had 19 factors and 9 rebounds, Nicolas Batum got here off the bench to attain 12 factors, doing his harm by going 4 for six from the three-point line, and Derrick Jones Jr. had 10 factors.
“We have to keep watching film, get better,” mentioned Batum, who additionally had three blocked pictures. “We have to be ready for them on Saturday because they are going to be ready for us.”
Followers cheer because the scoreboard reveals the Clippers defeated the Denver Nuggets 117-83 in Recreation 3 of their playoff sequence Thursday at Intuit Dome.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Occasions)
The Clippers performed maybe their finest protection of the sequence, holding the Nuggets to 40.3% capturing and 26.9% from three-point vary whereas preserving their offense out of types.
And so with 4 minutes and 34 seconds left and the Nuggets about to go down by 26 factors, Nuggets interim coach David Adelman pulled his starters to get them prepared for Recreation 4 on the Intuit Dome on Saturday afternoon.
Nuggets middle Nikola Jokic had his second straight triple-double with 23 factors, 13 rebounds and 13 assists, however the Clippers overcame his excellent play.
“That’s what he does. He’s an all-around player,” Zubac mentioned about Jokic. “He makes plays not just for himself. He makes plays for his teammates all the time. … He’s probably the best player in the league. He’s going to get his, so just got to stay locked in with our game plan, don’t worry about what he got.”
Harden set the tone early for the Clippers, his shot-making and passing permitting them to open a seven-point result in finish the primary quarter.
Harden scored 11 of the Clippers’ closing 16 factors within the first and assisted on three extra when he discovered Batum for a three-pointer with 1.5 seconds left within the first. He was six for 10 from the sector and three for 5 from three-point vary within the first half.
It allowed the Clippers to construct a 20-point lead within the second quarter, including to it as the group cheered on the dominant efficiency.
With the group cheering them on, the Clippers stored pushing ahead.
“When tip-off came, the whole arena was filled and it was packed, sold out all the way to the top,” Powell mentioned. “The energy was amazing from start to finish. I’m glad our first playoff game was a win here. But we still have more work today. We got to be ready and focused and locked in on Saturday.
“They’re a great team, they are a championship team, so we got to be ready to play.”
