The first two games of the Nuggets and Clippers playoff series couldn’t have been closer. The margins were slim, and everything was tooth and nail with both games being decided on the final possession. Denver stole a tight game one after trailing for most of the game, winning 112-110 in overtime.
Then the Clippers returned the favor in game two, taking over in the final minutes to pull off a 103-100 victory. But on Thursday night, the series shifted to LA, and it looked like a totally different ballgame, with the Clippers cruising to a dominant 117-83 win that was all but over in the second quarter.
The Nuggets worked so hard to hold onto the rope at home and played almost mistake-free basketball. But in LA, the rope completely unraveled, and everyone let go. We saw all of the worst traits of this team on full display, and it cost them big time.
Nuggets get destroyed from 3-point line
The three-point line has been a point of emphasis and concern all season, but they are still facing the same problems. They don’t have enough players who stress the defense from deep. Nikola Jokic is constantly creating mismatches, but the guys spotting up aren’t confident shooters who add floor spacing.
The low volume has killed the team all year, and it was never more evident than in game 3 as the Nuggets shot just 7/26 from three while the Clippers rained in 18/39 from deep. That 13-attempt differential is bad enough, but to have your opponent hit 11 more threes is just too much to overcome.
Jokic was 2/3 from deep, and Aaron Gordon was 2/4, but nobody else made more than one three, with Michael Porter Jr. notably hitting just 1/6, Jamal Murray hitting 1/4, and Russell Westbrook making 1/5. No other Nuggets players even made a three-pointer; you just can’t win that way in 2025.
Nugget’s lack of depth on full display
The other issue that has plagued the Nuggets all year is their lack of depth. They’ve struggled to find bench minutes all season, and with Russell Westbrook leaving early with an injury, and MPJ playing hurt, this looked ugly very quickly.
The Clippers outscored the Nuggets 31-6 in bench points. Jalen Pickett and Julian Strawther each played 10 impactless minutes as neither of them scored a point. Peyton Watson was expected to take on a bigger role, but he scored just 2 points in 18 minutes, with his team being outscored by 29 in those minutes.
The Nuggets just have nowhere to turn beyond their top few players, and it was glaringly obvious very early on. We’ll see what the updates are with Westbrook and Porter Jr., but if they are forced to play without one or both, or even if they’re compromised (which seems like a certainty), the Nuggets are in major trouble, and this isn’t just a one-game blip on the radar.