INGLEWOOD — The Clippers were hoping to take the same approach they did in their last game. Don’t panic, don’t overreact. Stay patient if the Denver Nuggets come out firing again. Do all the things that led to an overwhelming Game 3 victory.
It took a while and a near-brawl, but the Clippers finally remembered Coach Tyronn Lue’s advice, forging a thrilling fourth-quarter comeback before losing in heartbreaking fashion.
Trailing the Denver Nuggets by 20 points to begin the fourth, the Clippers erased all of that deficit to take their first lead of the game with 1:11 left only to lose, 101-99, on a buzzer-beating dunk by Aaron Gordon in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series on Saturday afternoon at the Intuit Dome.
Gordon slammed the ball through the rim off a Nikola Jokic airball from 3-point range, and video review confirmed the ball left Gordon’s hands above the rim just before time expired.
With the win, the Nuggets evened the best-of-seven series at 2-2. Game 5 is scheduled for Tuesday night back in Denver.
The Clippers, who had struggled offensively for much of the game and were outscored by 18 points in the third quarter, began to find the basket in the fourth and started to chip away at the Nuggets’ lead while using a zone defense to slow the visitors.
Guard Bogdan Bogdanovic scored on an offensive rebound to give the Clippers their first lead of the game at 97-96 with 71 seconds remaining.
Jokic split a pair of free throws with less than a minute left, then Kawhi Leonard missed a 3-point attempt with about 40 seconds left. Jokic responded with a 12-foot jumper to give the Nuggets a 99-97 lead with 16 seconds left. Moments later, Ivica Zubac tipped in a tying basket when James Harden’s jumper hit the rim.
The Clippers’ energy and that of the sold-out crowd was muted compared to Thursday night’s raucous game and it was reflected in their play. The Clippers came out flat and couldn’t match Denver’s fight early in the second half as the Nuggets pushed their lead to as many as 22 points.
The Clippers seemed to leave all their energy on the court in the first half as they tried to keep the game within reach. A skirmish at the end of the half that resulted in six technical fouls used up the rest.
With 6.6 seconds left in the first half and the Clippers trailing, 50-48, Harden was driving the sideline, setting up for a final shot, when Christian Braun fouled him. That led to heated words being exchanged.
Harden then pushed Braun and Jokic ran over and shoved Harden. Gordon came over and pushed Harden then stiff-armed the Clippers point guard, who appeared to hit Gordon’s neck with an open hand.
Powell joined the free-for-all and pushed both Gordon and Braun. Dunn also shoved Braun.
Sensing further trouble, Zubac rushed over and pulled Gordon out of the scrum as the Nuggets coaches stopped it from escalating.
Harden, Dunn and Powell were assessed technical fouls for the Clippers. Gordon, Jokic and Braun were given technical fouls for Denver. Game officials determined that the technical fouls were offsetting since there were no closed-fist punches thrown, therefore no foul shots were awarded, and no one was ejected.
The Nuggets outscored the Clippers 35-19 in the third to open an 85-65 lead, then Leonard, Harden and Powell sparked the Clippers in the fourth, when they outscored Denver 34-16.
The Clippers’ frustration was evident in the first half as their offense got stuck in neutral. They couldn’t match the energy of the Nuggets, who had jumped out to an early nine-point lead. The Clippers managed to close the gap, tying the score at 31-31 on a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer by Nicolas Batum, but never took the lead in the opening half.
The Clippers missed 27 shots (20 of 47) in the first half and watched the Nuggets go to the free-throw line 12 times compared to three trips for them. Chants aimed at the officials were frequent and loud.
Leonard finished with 24 points, nine rebounds and two assists. Norman Powell had 22 points and Zubac had 19 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Harden had 15 points and 11 assists.
Jokic had 36 points, 21 rebounds and eight assists to lead the Nuggets. Michael Porter Jr. and Braun had 17 points apiece.
Lue wouldn’t reveal any game plans before the game, but he did say the Clippers would need to pay attention to details. Minutiae stuff that led them to take a 2-1 series lead. Little things, such as when to focus on Murray coming off the pick-and-roll or how to cover Jokic.
“We know we have to double-team him; he’s a great passer. He can pick you apart. If you’re leaving him one-and-one, he can score 50,” Lue said. “So, it’s just a fine line and just mixing it up and just trying to keep him off balance as best as possible.”
That proved to be too big of a task.
NOTE
Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook sat out with left foot inflammation.
More to come on this story.
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