The Los Angeles Clippers will attempt to extend their home winning streak to eight games when they take on the Denver Nuggets on Sunday in Inglewood, Calif.
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue’s team is back in Los Angeles after a 2-2 road stretch, capped by a gripping 93-92 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves in NBA Cup action on Friday night.
James Harden’s four-point play gave the Clippers a three-point lead, 90-87, with 4:10 left in the game before a chaotic finish. Anthony Edwards responded for the Timberwolves with a steal and dunk, a go-ahead 3-pointer and a late free throw.
Despite the closing stages not going to plan, Lue preferred to focus on the positives, notably the way the Clippers continue to defend and press.
“I liked our defense all night,” Lue said after his side held the opposition under 100 points for the sixth time in its past seven outings.
“I thought it was going to be hard for them to score on us — which it was. … To hold this team to 40 points in the second half was huge for us.”
Harden (20 points, 11 assists) and Ivica Zubac (16 points, 13 rebounds) chalked up double-doubles for Los Angeles in the narrow defeat.
Kevin Porter Jr. had 17 points off the bench before hobbling off the court inside the last 90 seconds after hurting his left ankle. Porter will not play on Sunday, and veteran guard/forward Norman Powell (left hamstring strain), who is averaging a team-high 23.3 points per game for the Clippers, is listed as questionable.
Powell has not played since Nov. 18.
While Lue has praised the way the Clippers have executed defensively, Denver coach Michael Malone hasn’t shared the same view about his own team, even after the Nuggets comfortably eclipsed the Utah Jazz 122-103 on Wednesday.
Nikola Jokic was dominant — per usual — with 30 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, continuing his banner campaign, during which he is averaging career highs in points per game (29.7), assists per game (10.6) and 3-point shooting percentage (53.4). He is also grabbing 13.1 rebounds per contest.
He appears well on track to become the sixth player in NBA history — joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell, LeBron James and Wilt Chamberlain — to win four MVPs. Jokic most recently took home the award at the end of last season.
But despite Jokic’s individual brilliance and the ease of Denver’s victory, Malone believes the Nuggets are still some distance short of reaching the lofty levels of success that they had been accustomed to over the previous two seasons.
“Our defense so far has just been really inconsistent,” Malone said. “And obviously, where does that start? It starts in transition. It flows into the paint, and it finishes with the rebounding. And then aside from those areas, I think it also has to go to just being more physical, more urgent and more disciplined.
“And there are simple mistakes that we’re making that are breakdowns in our game plan or personnel. And we have to stop making those if we want to be a team that is gonna be a top-10 defense. We’re far from that right now.”
–Field Level Media
