The Clippers take on the Denver Nuggets in an important game to determine seeding in the bottom half of the Western Conference Playoff race. Keep reading for a full preview of the Clippers’ game against the Nuggets.
Game Information
Where: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
When: 7:00 PM PT
How to Watch: TNT, Bally Sports SoCal
Projected Starting Lineups
Clippers: Reggie Jackson – Amir Coffey – Nicolas Batum – Marcus Morris – Ivica Zubac
Nuggets: Monte Morris – Will Barton – Aaron Gordon – Jeff Green – Nikola Jokic
Injuries
Clippers: Kawhi Leonard Out (Knee), Paul George Out (Elbow), Norman Powell Out (Ankle), Jay Scrubb Out (Foot), Jason Preston Out (Foot)
Nuggets: Jamal Murray Out (Knee), Michael Porter Jr. Out (Back), Zeke Nnaji Out (Knee), Vlatko Cancar Out (Foot), JaMychal Green Probable (Hip)
The Big Picture
The Clippers are suddenly sliding, dropping three games in a row after winning five straight. Still, they’ve had a nice long break with three full days off, and hopefully were able to get in some rest as well as much-needed practicing. The Clippers’ main rotation players are clearly running on fumes at this point in the season (so are many guys around the league), so the extended break should do them good. They have another nice two-day gap after this game, affording more of a breather. Still, while the Clippers are trying to rest and stay healthy, they do need to stay ahead of the Lakers, who are very bad but do still possess the services of one LeBron James. A couple wins might be all they need to secure the 8 seed, but those wins could be hard to come by with the strength of schedule they have remaining (until the very end of the season).
The Antagonist
The Nuggets have dropped two games in a row, and that very small dip during an otherwise very good season has pushed them to 7th place in the Western Conference behind the scorching hot Timberwolves. The Nuggets aren’t quite a one-man team – Monte Morris and Aaron Gordon are both too good to really make that claim – but Nikola Jokic is the frontrunner for MVP for a reason. The big Serb is averaging 26.1 points, 13.6 rebounds, and 8.0 assists per game while shooting 64% on two-pointers with a 65.2% True Shooting. Simply put, he’s just about unstoppable on every given night, and has carried the Nuggets to a 42-30 record with 0 games from Jamal Murray and only 9 awful, injury-ridden showings from Michael Porter Jr. If you can slow Jokic, you can probably beat the Nuggets, who are average defensively and don’t have any other huge offensive threats, but that’s easier said than done.
Notes
Fronting Jokic: Something that the Clippers had success doing earlier this year, and that other long teams have capitalized on, is fronting Jokic with smaller players. While the Nuggets have some fine shooters, their only healthy sniper off-ball is Bryn Forbes, who can be punished defensively. Will Barton and Bones Hyland are streaky, Monte Morris is not a high-volume shooter, and Jeff Green tosses bricks. By fronting Jokic, you prevent him from getting the ball in the painted area, where he’s deadly, and force a variety of mediocre ball-handlers and playmakers to try to create something, or hit contested threes (if the defense is sharp). It’s not an instant solution, but it’s almost certainly something the Clippers will try in this one.
Battle of Benches: Denver coach Mike Malone is old school, which means he usually deploys a 10-man rotation in the regular season with a full five-man bench unit. This reserve squad has been up and down for the Nuggets, but has largely been positive of late after a rough start to the year. When Hyland gets hot, he gets hot, especially at home, and that can lead to games running away. Preventing him and Bryn Forbes from getting open threes and running them off the line is crucial. The other item is DeMarcus Cousins, who isn’t very good, but is massive, and will have a big size advantage on Isaiah Hartenstein. Hart needs to defend Cousins without fouling and make him shoot jumpers, which is still his weak spot.
Former Clippers Galore: In addition the aforementioned Cousins, who was on the Clips last season, the Nuggets have a bevy of former Clippers. Fan favorites Austin Rivers and JaMychal Green are key components of the new Nuggets’ bench, while Jeff Green has been a stopgap starter most of the season. The Nuggets also had brief former Clippers James Ennis and Rayjon Tucker on the roster earlier in the year, though neither is with the team now.
That about does it for this preview of the Clippers’ game against the Nuggets. Check out DNVR Nuggets for their excellent coverage and podcasts/YouTube shows, and leave your comments below!
