The Clippers had a few ups and downs, but mostly rolled on both ends of the court to beat the Nuggets on Christmas 121-108.

Summary

The first quarter started with both teams looking a little sluggish. Turnovers and bad fouls were the only team getting either team buckets, with very little successful action in the halfcourt. After a particularly bad turnover, Ty Lue took a timeout, and the Clippers came out rejuvenated. Early Pat Beverley foul trouble led to Lou Williams minutes, but Lou’s scoring and passing juiced up the offense, and the Clippers began to zip the ball around the court. Continued drives, penetration, and crosscourt passing resulted in a number of wide-open threes, and the Clippers nailed them. The only thing preventing the lead from growing to double digits were the continued turnovers and an incredible 11 fouls.

The second quarter proceeded much the same way. Even the insertion of Reggie Jackson for Terance Mann (why Ty, why?) couldn’t slow the Clippers’ roll (though Jackson did have a couple trademark bad shots and questionable decisions). The ball movement continued to percolate, with the Clippers whipping the ball around the court and leveraging the scoring threats of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to create opportunities for others. They also forced the Nuggets into turnovers, resulting in more open threes. Combine that with offensive rebounding and strong interior play by Zubac and the Clippers lead hit 20 before a Jokic three brought it back down to 17.

The third quarter matched the second almost beat for beat. The Clippers continued to play well offensively and compete on defense, but were unable to pull ahead in large part due to their foul troubles. Ibaka and Beverley swiftly picked up their 4^th fouls, meaning the bench came in early. As the quarter dragged along, the ball movement slowed down a bit, but was picked back up after a timeout with two easy baskets. The Nuggets, meanwhile, looked a lot sharper, but their inability to hit open threes kept them from cutting into the lead. The Nuggets stayed attached through, and the Clippers lead of 19 felt like it could break at any moment.

Well, the Nuggets started off the 4^th quarter with a 6-0 run, and the Clippers lead sat at a mere 13 with 11 minutes to go. Kawhi was brought back in, and a couple midrange jumpers stemmed the bleeding. The Clippers as a whole continued to look disorganized and sloppy, with Reggie Jackson playing a “starring” role in the dysfunction on both ends. The Nuggets began doubling Leonard, and forcing the ball out of his hands, which resulted in bad shots and turnovers. On the other end, Jamal Murray caugt fire, trimming the Clippers lead to single digits. Then, at the 6 minute mark, Kawhi horrifyingly went down in a pool of blood from his mouth – the unfortunate aftermath of an inadvertent elbow from teammate Ibaka. Rather than fold, the Clippers continued to run their offense, with George-Ibaka pick and pops facilitating two buried threes. Every time Denver pushed, the Clippers answered, and were ultimately able to hold on to beat the Nuggets 121-108 to give Clippers fans a merry Christmas.

Notes

Ball Movement Dazzles – The Clippers finished the game with 32 assists on 41 made baskets, an excellent percentage and a contrast to the frequently ISO-driven offense of the 2020 team. The Clippers seem to just be running more offensive sets, especially out of timeouts, and the ball is moving around the court a lot more. Even in possessions that feature a Kawhi Leonard or Paul George isolation, there’s much more off-ball movement to create confusion and generate open looks for other players. The offense is zipping, and should only improve as the players get more reps and build chemistry. Their new offense is also a hell of a lot more fun to watch, too.

Nicolas Batum Shines – What a game from Nicolas Swatum. The veteran Frenchman had 13 points on 5-8 shooting, snagged 10 boards, dished 4 assists, and made some big defensive plays. It’s a cliché, but it applies to Batum: he’s always in the right place at the right time. His defense has been solid on both wings and bigger forwards, and he’s nailed open threes. The Clippers can’t have asked any more from him, and he’s probably been their 3^rd best player (or maybe 4^th just behind Serge Ibaka) through two games. It’s a small sample size, but Batum looks like he will be a very helpful presence on the team this year as a glue guy who can be trusted in multiple roles.

Pat Beverley Fouling – One negative that has carried over from last season is Pat Beverley’s fouling tendencies. He played only 22 minutes in this one, in large part because of his 5 fouls, and missed huge chunks of the first three quarters. He’s a very important player for the Clippers, and they need him on the court. While some fouls happen in the course of a game, Beverley continues to make silly plays with very low chance of success and a high risk of fouling. For his 4^th foul, he double teamed Nikola Jokic on a 20 foot fadeaway jumper from the corner with 0.7 seconds left when Zu had a hand up. Completely unnecessary and foolish for a player as experienced as Beverley. These fouls need to stop.

Kawhi Seems Ok – Despite the horrific amount of bleeding that Kawhi suffered from his mouth, all seems well. He had eights stitches in the locker room for a laceration, but the Clippers seemed unconcerned about the injury after the game, and no more severe injury (broken jaw) has been reported. It’s possible he misses the Dallas game on Sunday, but a long-term injury appears to have been avoided.

Paul George Playmaking a Mixed Bag – As it frequently is, Paul George’s playmaking had mixed results. On one hand, he had nine assists, including some truly brilliant and clutch finds to players down the stretch of the game. On the other, he had six turnovers, with a few of them being completely unforced. George has good basketball instincts and tries to make the right play most of the time, but simply doesn’t have the next level passing abilities that top-tier playmakers do that enable them to stay a step ahead of the defense. He can leverage his scoring to create open looks for others, but asking him to shoulder the reins of the offense for long periods is probably going to come with some frustrations.

Well, that’s about it for this one. Happy Holidays everyone, and enjoy the fact that the Clippers have now beat the Lakers and Nuggets to start this 2021 season, and looked good doing it!

Clippers Beat Nuggets 121-108 to Close Christmas Day
Robert Flom

The Clippers take on the Denver Nuggets on Christmas evening in a rematch of the 2020 second-round playoff series that was an ignominious defeat for the Clips and a potential preview for a future postseason clash.

Game Information

Where: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado

When: 7:30 PM PT

How to Watch: ESPN, Watch ESPN

Projected Starting Lineups

Clippers: Patrick Beverley – Paul George – Kawhi Leonard – Nicolas Batum – Serge Ibaka

Nuggets: Jamal Murray – Gary Harris – Michael Porter Jr. – Paul Millsap – Nikola Jokic

Injuries

Clippers: Marcus Morris Out (Knee soreness)

Nuggets: JaMychal Green Out (Calf strain)

The Big Picture

The Clippers looked quite good on opening night, showcasing improved ball movement, attention to detail on defense, and lineup creativity in their victory over the Lakers. There were still plenty of kinks to work out, including a dreadful 2^nd quarter replete with stagnant offense and horrid turnovers, but overall, it was a promising start. All key players looked healthy and ready for the regular season, with Paul George playing particularly well. The Clippers really couldn’t have asked for too much more.

Now, Marcus Morris remains out with knee soreness, which is not good. However, Nic Batum played well in the starting lineup Tuesday, and there are good reasons that Morris’ absence could actually result in some positive outcomes in the long-term, as long as he’s not out for too much longer. If he’s out tonight, the Clippers still matchup fine with the Nuggets, who don’t usually feature Paul Millsap or their bigger forwards much on offense.

The Antagonist

The Nuggets had a disappointing season opener, losing at home (albeit with no fans) to the presumably lottery-bound Sacramento Kings. Despite a massive outing from Nikola Jokic and solid supporting performances by Will Barton, Paul Millsap, and Michael Porter Jr., a horrid game from Jamal Murray (fouling out in 34 minutes with only 9 points scored) sunk them. The Nuggets’ defense held up ok (giving up 124 points in overtime isn’t too bad), but struggled with defending Harrison Barnes. With Jerami Grant and Torrey Craig elsewhere, the Nuggets’ best option for defending big wings and forwards could be JaMychal Green – who is currently injured. Right now, their options on Kawhi and Paul George are the inexperienced Porter and the undersized Barton and Harris. That should open the door for a big night for the Clippers’ star wings.

Notes

• Guarding Jokic – The biggest reason the Clippers lost the Nuggets series, in the macro sense, is that they never figured out how to guard Nikola Jokic. Sure, he particularly destroyed Montrezl Harrell, and not playing him would have helped to slow the big Serb down, but even Ivica Zubac and JaMychal Green were struggling with Nikola. And that’s fine! Jokic is a superstar, one of the 10 best players in the NBA and one of the top 5 offensive weapons. However, the Clippers have changed their frontcourt, and Serge Ibaka will almost certainly get first crack at Jokic. Ibaka is a guy who theoretically can guard Jokic – he’s tall, long, and has enough quickness to contain some of Jokic’s drives. Having been in the Eastern Conference for a number of years, Ibaka doesn’t have a ton of experience guarding Jokic, but hopefully he can do a decent job on him. If so, having two capable-ish Jokic defenders would go a long way towards helping the Clippers beat the Nuggets in a future series.
• Revenge Game – The Clippers will presumably be coming into this game hungry. After all, as needs no reminder, this very same Nuggets squad (with a few changes) came back from 3-1 down in the 2020 playoffs to defeat the Clippers, adding yet another humiliation to a franchise already rife with them. Most of this Clippers squad is the same too, and the memory is obviously fresh in their minds. It’s a “new team, new season” mentality, but sheer human nature would make a change for revenge tough to overlook. I think the Clippers are placing more emphasis on the 2021 regular season than they did on the 2020 regular season in general, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them go extra hard in this one.
• The Backup Point Guard Spot – Reggie Jackson played for three minutes in the Clippers’ opening game against the Lakers, three minutes that felt like an eternity. He missed several shots, blew at least one assignment on defense, and was earning the ire of Clippers twitter as if he’d been playing poorly for weeks. Coach Ty Lue benched him the rest of the way, but it remains to be seen whether he will have more chances at the backup point guard role, if second-year guard Terance Mann will leapfrog him, or the Clippers move forward with Lou Williams and Luke Kennard stepping in as point guards. Jackson can shoot, but his decision-making on both ends of the court is atrocious, and he’s unplayable when he tries to do too much. Hopefully Mann gets a shot sooner or later, or Lue finds a way to reach Reggie and impress upon him his limited role.
• JaMychal Green Absent – One of the things Clippers fans were looking forward to in this game was seeing JaMychal Green, a key rotation player on the 2019 and 2020 Clippers teams. Unfortunately, JaMyke is dealing with a calf strain, and won’t play tonight. He will be a crucial piece to the Nuggets off the bench, as he is probably their best defender on bigger forwards (as mentioned above). Hopefully, he’s able to move past his injury quickly and will make his return sooner than later. With both Green and Morris out, the Clippers and Nuggets will each be shorthanded on Christmas, making this not quite a complete preview of a full-strength matchup.

Well, that’s about it for this Clippers vs Nuggets Christmas game preview. Happy Holidays everyone!

Clippers vs. Nuggets Christmas Game Preview
Robert Flom