Denver Nuggets Beat Clippers in Dominate Fashion
By Drew Davis
Two words: The Manimal.
The Denver Nuggets defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 87-81 wednesday night, and how they did it might surprise some fans.
The Clippers, with DeAndre Jordan and their flashy dunk finishes, started the game with a a plethora of three-pointers and took an early 11-2 lead, but Denver would weather the storm as the game began to develop. Denver soon tied the game as a strange trend continued.
Denver fought back and took the lead with big dunks and by attacking the paint like many expect the Clippers to do.
Possession after possession the Nuggets drove in and passed to the paint, gathering offensive rebound after offensive rebound, and made the Clippers offense try to run faster and keep up with the low-post, yet fast paced offense Denver kept running.
The game was like a role reversal seeing Kenneth Faried live up to his nickname “The Manimal,” as he outplayed DeAndre Jordan on the night. Grabbing 11 rebounds to go with his 21 points (Jordan had 12 rebounds, but just 7 points), Denver saw a stretch where Faried scored 8 points and grabbed 4 rebounds in just over a minute as the second quarter drew to a close.
The quarter spoke for the game as a whole: Faried kept attacking the paint until Los Angeles fell largely behind.
The Nuggets followed Faried’s lead in attacking the paint, scoring 44 points down low (compared to the Clippers’ 22), getting 14 offensive rebounds (compared to the Clippers’ 9), and had 19 fast break points (compared to the Clippers’ 9). Denver simply ran and attacked the Clippers into submission.
Denver, now 23-35, picked up their first win in Los Angeles, now 37-20, against the Clippers since February 2, 2012 by being the what fans expect the Clippers to do.
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The Nuggets had lost three straight, but what a win this must feel like, being the fast paced team of old and beating a team at their own game.