The Denver Nuggets didn’t win the NBA Cup in December, but the tournament gave them a chance to secure home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Denver won the extra game scheduled between the teams after both were eliminated — meaning the Nuggets finished the regular season 2-2 against the Clippers rather than 1-2. Both teams finished 50-32 and the Nuggets earned the No. 4 seed by virtue of a better conference record.
The teams will open their seven-game series Saturday afternoon in Denver.
Los Angeles is one of the hottest teams entering the postseason, having won eight in a row and 18 of their last 21 to climb out of the play-in and into the No. 5 seed.
The Clippers were 20-17 after losing to the Nuggets on Jan. 8, the final meeting between the teams, but finished the season 32-15, due in large part to the return of Kawhi Leonard. The two-time NBA Finals MVP missed the first 34 games with a right knee injury, and he averaged 21.5 points in 37 games.
His presence has taken pressure off James Harden, who led Los Angeles in scoring (22.8 points) and assists (8.7).
“We just found ways to win,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “No matter whose night it was, we just kind of featured that guy, played hard defensively and competed and we played together.”
Harden and Leonard will get plenty of attention, but Denver has had trouble stopping Norman Powell. He averaged 27.8 points in the four games against the Nuggets this year, six more than his season average.
Denver locked up the fourth seed to cap a chaotic end to the regular season. The Nuggets fired coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth with three games left, and assistant David Adelman was named interim head coach. He guided them to three straight wins after a four-game losing streak.
“I think the locker room right now is in a really healthy place,” Adelman said Friday. “When you go through a lot, sometimes … you go through complications. Sometimes, you come out the other side a better person, and as a team, that can happen too.”
Denver has the talent to get past the Clippers, starting with perennial MVP candidate Nikola Jokic. The Serbian averaged 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists to become the first center and third player to average a triple-double for a season. He is the first player in NBA history to rank in the top three in those categories.
Jokic will have to contend with NBA Defensive Player of the Year candidate Ivica Zubac in the series.
A key for the Nuggets to advance is a high level of production — and health — from the rest of the starters. Jamal Murray, who was second in scoring at 21.4 points a game, missed six games late in the season with a right hamstring injury but returned for the final two games.
Aaron Gordon played only 51 games because of a right calf injury but has logged heavy minutes at the end of the season. Gordon will likely be the primary defender on Leonard, while Christian Braun will be tasked to stop Harden.
–Field Level Media
