The margin for error between the Nuggets and Clippers is nonexistent.
So fittingly, a collection of moments late in Game 2 will haunt the Nuggets if this series doesn’t turn out their way.
Aaron Gordon’s missed go-ahead dunk opportunity. Michael Porter Jr.’s costly turnover on an outlet pass. The “what-if” after interim coach David Adelman didn’t call a timeout on the final possession, down three.
It all amounted to a 105-102 Game 2 loss in a series that feels meant to be tied as it shifts to Los Angeles on Thursday. Christian Braun and Nikola Jokic missed game-tying 3-point attempts in the hectic dying seconds.
Jokic did most of his scoring in the second half, compiling 26 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Jamal Murray, wearing a long-sleeve undershirt, added 23 points. Porter posted a double-double after getting benched at the end of Game 1.
Kawhi Leonard was the star of the show, though, leading the Clippers with 39 points on a remarkable 15-for-19 shooting night.
Leonard’s legs have tried to steal him from an adoring basketball world. Aches and pains and surgeries have sequestered him from the game and threatened his lift when available. His Game 2 first half was evidence that his sorcery is still capable of outpacing Father Time.
No matter how determined Denver’s defense was, Leonard was able to rise up and rain fire on the Nuggets. He went after Murray on switches out of the gate. Murray was up to the challenge. But that was irrelevant against one of the least guardable jump shots of all time. Nuggets reserve Jalen Pickett delivered the playoff highlight of his life when he contested Leonard’s only miss of the first half.
That half ended with Leonard punishing Jokic for tired shot selection. With Zubac’s hand in his face, Jokic launched a 3-pointer from the top of the key. The Clippers star raced to the other end and elevated between defenders for an off-balance 3 at the buzzer. Los Angeles led 55-52.
Jokic’s lack of aggression in the paint loomed most of the night. During the second quarter, he checked in wearing a shooting sleeve over his occasionally irksome right elbow that was absent in the first. He didn’t attempt a 2-point field goal in Denver’s half-court offense until the 4:22 mark of the third frame.
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But after Jokic scored the last five points of the third, Adelman left him in to start the fourth in his usual rest minutes. He immediately buried a go-ahead 3, punctuating an individual 8-0 run.
Porter remained a supporting character for most of Game 2, but he made himself more useful in his minutes by emerging as one of Denver’s most active players on the glass and in transition. After scoring 14 fast-break points in Game 1, the Nuggets had 16 by the end of the first frame Monday.
“It’s tough to go there and attack Kawhi Leonard. But you can space knowing that Kawhi is an active defender. … He’s a world-class shooter,” Adelman said of Porter before the game. “He’s one of the best shooters I’ve ever seen. That’s on me. But I think on the defensive end, you gotta be engaged. … If we’re going to take away the paint, and your responsibility as a low man is to impact Zubac as he rolls to the rim, then you’ve gotta do that. Not just him, everybody. And if you can’t do that, then I can’t keep you in the game.”
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