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Shorthanded Nuggets Drop Fourth Straight Game

By Nicholas LeTourneau

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107. 77. Final. 92. 73

The Denver Nuggets are finally back in the Pepsi Center! After a three-game road trip (and corresponding losing streak), the Nuggets were ready to face the Los Angeles Clippers at home, after getting blown out the night before by the San Antonio Spurs. Melvin Hunt had to give up his small ball strategy due to Danilo Gallinari resting (Ty Lawson was also out of the lineup). This forced him to play a more traditional lineup featuring Kenneth Faried at power forward and JJ Hickson at center.

The Clippers showed a killer instinct by going on a 10-0 run to start the game before Hunt called a timeout to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, the timeout did not help, as the Clippers continued to have their way with the Nuggets — they went 9-10 from the field while the Nuggets scored only six points during the run. Things started to turn around for Denver when Jusuf Nurkic and Will Barton entered the game, as the team started getting defensive stops and (finally) some rebounds. The quarter ended with the Nuggets down 29-15, thanks to a 1-8 performance from three-point territory.

The second quarter started slow for both teams as the Nuggets missed their first five shots, and the Clippers went 3-7 before Griffin opened things up with a fadeaway shot off the glass. Jameer Nelson answered right back with one of the top plays of the game — a spinning layup in traffic. Unfortunately for Denver, Nelson left the game with five minutes remaining in the half and he would not return to the game due to a strained hip flexor. JJ Reddick was the story of the first half, starting 5-9 from the field with 17 points as the Clippers led at the half, 55-39.

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The Nuggets came out firing in the third quarter, going on a 5-0 run before as both teams settled into a rhythm on offense. Chandler played a large roll in keeping the sputtering offense on track by being aggressive and getting to the free throw line early and often. However, the Clippers countered with a balanced attack and extended their halftime lead throughout the quarter.

Since this was my first time watching the Clippers for a full game, I was exposed to the popular “Hack-A-Jordan” approach at the end of the quarter. It was the single most annoying thing I have ever seen done in an NBA game. How this is still legal is shocking to me. The final three minutes of the quarter seemed to take as long as the first nine minutes. Through three quarters, the Nuggets were able to cut the deficit to 12 — the Clippers were ahead 82-70.

Technical fouls were the name of the game in the first part of the quarter as Clippers head coach Doc Rivers picked up one going into the quarter then thanks to a Blake Griffin flop, Nurkic was given a flagrant-one. In the process of arguing the flagrant-one, Hunt earned a technical as well. After all the arguing, the game resumed its back-and-forth flow of momentum as the Clippers second unit really struggled to keep the success going that the starters had. In the end, the Clippers lead was too much to overcome and they went on to win 107-92.

This was a game that got out of hand in a hurry after one quarter. The Clippers gave the Nuggets many opportunities to climb back into this game, but they were unable to capitalize. Injuries played the biggest role in this game; not only was one of our best scorers on the bench, but both of our point guards as well. The Nuggets fall to 28-49 on the year and they are the losers of four straight games, but look on the bright side, we are one loss closer to a better chance of gaining the number-one overall pick.

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