The Nuggets are coming off a 31-point loss to the Clippers

The expected shock gave birth… to a “blowout”. After their loss to Minnesota three days earlier, the Nuggets continued their streak in spectacular fashion. They suffocated and crushed the Clippers (122-91), but it was almost complete (only John Wall and Nicolas Batum were on the sidelines), falling to their fourth straight loss.

To realize the gap between the two teams in this match, you have to have one number in mind: zero. Or the number of times the Californians led the score. Their sluggish start in the first few minutes gradually turned into a nightmare. Because they did not get a shot, they went to cabbage in the first quarter, which was mainly dominated by the locals (32-15).

Repeat the Bis in the second quarter then the Nuggets fired with more than double the points of their opponents (66-32). The following? Not much can be said because the Clippers will certainly be offensive (starting very far…), but this meeting does not leave an endless and unpredictable “garbage season”. By the end of the third quarter, the gap had reached a record level for the night by… 43 units (102-59).

WHAT YOU SHOULD REMEMBER

– 19-0 in the second quarter. It’s crazy to think that when the Nuggets started this sequence, they already had a 19-point lead (42-23). But this paragraph allowed them to close the debates prematurely. They did it thanks to their replacements, starting with a Kentavious Caldwell-Pope who is very comfortable with the long shot in transition. So did Bones Hyland’s power stack, as Bruce Brown brought his energy and Vlatko Cancar stepped up to dunk in transition. Before a very rare basket from Kawhi Leonard to end “this run”, Denver was able to rest (61-23).

– Tyronn Lue empowers his players. It is interesting to note that the Clippers coach took two time-outs in the first quarter, when his team started to slip in the score. On the other hand, he did not insist on the second one. When the gap widened too much, the technician timed out seven minutes from the break, then the Leonard – George pair was re-injected. Accustomed to his team performing miracles when it was further behind in the score, he saw none that night.

TOPS/FLOPS

✅ Jamal Murray. It’s hard to put a player ahead of the rest of the Nuggets side, because there are so many of them, but the leader launched his team perfectly by scoring 13 straight points in the first quarter. Often, he abandoned the creative side handled by Nikola Jokic, the best passer of the night.

✅ The Nuggets bench. Substitutes didn’t just become popular because it was a ‘blowout’. Bones Hyland, Bruce Brown, Vlatko Cancar, author of his first career double-double, without forgetting Zeke Nnaji, all played an important role, especially in the second quarter, to allow Denver to expand a sufficiently significant space to not worry then. .

⛔ The address of the Clippers. The Nuggets certainly showed their serious defensiveness, to the point of signing their best performance of the year in this area. But the Californians missed plenty of good shots to sign their worst game of the season on offense. They matched their lowest point total ever and posted their worst ratio behind the 3-point line: 5/37, or… 13.5% success. Special mention to all the California holders, not one of them reached the 10 point mark. Only Bruce Brown has scored as many points as the Kawhi Leonard – Paul George duo…

THE FOLLOWING

Nuggets (25-13) : Cavs reception next night.

Clippers (21-19) : trip to Wolves the next night.