Clippers use Balanced Effort to Crush Nuggets, win Third Straight
The L.A. Clippers have been playing some of their best basketball of the season lately, and it's no coincidence that it's coming now that the team is finally healthy. Before Friday night's game against the Denver Nuggets, L.A. had rattled off two convincing wins over the Memphis Grizzlies and Phoenix Suns.
No one thought the team would improve upon those performances against Denver, but that's exactly what happened.
The Clippers got off to a hot start and led wire-to-wire in a 132-103 victory over the second-place Nuggets, handing them their largest loss of the season.
It was as well-rounded a game as the Clippers could have hoped to play against a fellow title contender. L.A. was locked in on both ends of the floor from start to finish and got excellent production from the starters and the bench.
Paul George returned to form and led the Clippers in scoring with 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 from three-point range. He also collected four rebounds and two assists in just 25 minutes of action.
George is still on a minutes restriction, having just returned from a tricky hamstring injury. His limit was likely 25, but he didn't need to play any more than 20 tonight for L.A.
Kawhi Leonard was dominant as well, recording 19 points, two rebounds, five assists and two steals in a team-high 25:22. He was one of seven Clippers players to score in double-figures.
That said, it was Reggie Jackson that was arguably the team's top performer. The Clippers' most recent addition posted a near-triple-double with 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in just 18 minutes. He's barely begun his Clippers career, but he already looks like someone that's been here all season. His fit with the second unit has been seamless.
This recent stretch of dominance shouldn't come as a surprise, especially to dedicated fans of the team. It's no coincidence that it's correlated with the team's health, and now that the players are getting more familiar with each other, L.A. is really starting to click — on both ends of the floor.
The Clippers held the Nuggets to 45.1% shooting from the floor and 36.0% from beyond the arc, both of which are below or equal to Denver's averages this season. More impressively, L.A. forced Denver to commit 14 turnovers — six of which were live-ball — to 19 assists. The Nuggets could never get into a rhythm.
With the win, the Clippers moved to 40-19 on the season and 7-0 when fully healthy. In those seven games, L.A. has an average margin of victory of 14.7 points.
The Clippers have hit their stride at the perfect time. On Sunday, L.A. will host the Philadelphia 76ers before going on the road for meetings with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets. After that, the Clippers will return home for an all-important contest with the Los Angeles Lakers.
