Los Angeles Clippers Suffer Familiar Game 7 Defeat at the Hands of Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets handed the Los Angeles Clippers a familiar Game 7 taste on Saturday night, winning 120-101 to advance to the second round against the Oklahoma City Thunder. According to TalkSPORT, the Nuggets and Clippers capped off their electric seven-game series, with Denver emerging victorious.
The series was a thrilling playoff classic, with the Clippers winning on Thursday night to level the series for a second time, having trailed the Nuggets 1-0 and 3-2. The teams have been locked in a thrilling playoff series before – the 2020 Western Conference semifinals, which sparked a devastating fallout in LA. As TalkSPORT reported, five years ago, in the NBA bubble in Orlando, Florida, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Clippers stormed to a 3-1 lead.
The franchise had entered the postseason with huge championship expectations after a big off-season splash prior to that campaign. They acquired free agent Kawhi Leonard and were at the center of a blockbuster trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder, exchanging Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a staggering five first-round draft picks for Paul George that was meant to shift the balance of power out West. However, the second half of Game 5 vs the Nuggets, which the Clippers ended up losing 111-105, would mark the beginning of a stunning series collapse.
Game 6 was much the same story as Game 5; the Clippers went up early, seemingly ready to end the series, only to surrender the lead and lose 111-98 to go to a Game 7. In that win-or-go-home game, perennial playoff performer Jamal Murray stunned with 40 points as the Nuggets claimed a 104-89 victory, completing a historic comeback by rallying from 3-1 down to win 4-3.
In Saturday’s decisive Game 7, Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets proved too strong, winning 120-101. According to TalkSPORT, Kawhi Leonard finished with 14 points on 6-of-22 shooting, while Paul George had ten points on 4-of-16 shooting. The Nuggets had apparently done the unthinkable, but it wasn’t the first time they had turned things around during that postseason.
They overturned a 3-1 deficit in the first round against the Utah Jazz. It meant they became just the third team in US major sports to rally from a pair of 3-1 deficits in the same playoffs, joining the 1985 Kansas City Royals and 2003 Minnesota Wild. However, the biggest fallout from that stunning collapse was Clippers head coach Doc Rivers being fired.
Rivers has a 6-10 record in Game 7s and has lost five consecutive Game 7s from 2015-2023. "Thank you Clipper Nation for allowing me to be your coach and for all your support in helping make this a winning franchise," Rivers said at the time. "When I took this job, my goals were to make this a winning basketball program, a free agent destination, and bring a championship to this organization."
Fast forward to 2025, and George plays for the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Clippers are yet to reach the NBA Finals. With Leonard and James Harden – the latter still chasing a first ring – it’s back to the drawing board. And the Joker moves on.
The Clippers’ defeat means they will be watching the rest of the playoffs from home, while the Nuggets will face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round. According to TalkSPORT, Westbrook proved a major spark off the bench in Denver’s Game 7 victory, and it will be interesting to see how the Nuggets perform in the next round.
In conclusion, the Denver Nuggets’ victory over the Los Angeles Clippers was a thrilling conclusion to their seven-game series. As reported by TalkSPORT, the Nuggets will now face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round, while the Clippers will have to regroup and rebuild for another championship push.
