Nuggets 102 - 111 Clippers summary, stats, scores and highlights | NBA

Harden ended the night with 20 points on 10 shots and dished out 11 assists. George had 26 and 8 rebounds and Leonard had 17, 5 and 4. This is a team that is coming together. It's not going to happen over night, but in a few months we might be talking about this team being one of the most dangerous in the Western Conference. 

After allowing 36 points in the first quarter, the Clips held the Nuggets to just 45 points in the second half. This was just one of a few hustle plays from Westbrook that shows he can still be dangerous even in him new limited role in LA. 

Russell Westrbook has accepted his new role coming off the bench and has flourished despite the undoubtably frustrating situation. He light a fire under the Clippers to start the fourth quarter, going on a personal 5-0 run and igniting the crown with high energy plays. 

George had 10 points in the first half, but got much more involved in the second half as he started to find mismatches. George is the leading scorer on this team, but it's a three headed monster that will be scary once they start clicking. 

After going 1/9 from downtown in the first quarter, the Clippers hit six straight threes in the second quarter, while the defense clamped down and held Jokic without a basket on nine straight field goal attempts. Jokic had his worst shooting night ever, going 9/32 from the field. He still ended up with his 9th triple double of the season with 22, 15 and 10 but it was unusual to see him take that many shots and miss that many shots. 

It took a about seven minutes for the Clippers to erase the 15 point first quarter deficit and take the lead with this Paul George three off the Leonard assists. For as long as they have been on the same team, they haven't been on the court together too much. This was their 20th straight game playing together which the longest stretch of games they have been on the same court at the same time. 

We had yet to see Harden look fully comfortable in a Clippers jersey since he was traded at the beginning of the season. Tonight was the first night he looked like himself. He was in control of the offense, dictating the pace in an efficient night from the field. 

Harden made a big difference at the beginning of the second quarter, pushing the pace and spreading the floor with Jokic on the bench. Harden was providing more than scoring in the first half, but Paul George and Kawhi Leonard has slow starts. It was the bench that kept LA in the game, scoring 28 of the 61 points through the first two quarters.

The Clippers were down as many as 15 points in the first quarter but Daniel Theis woke LA up with eight straight points to start a run that would eventually give the Clips the lead. 

The Clippers started the game cold from the field as Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets got off to a hot shooting start. They went 8/10 from downtown, hitting more threes than any team in any quarter this season while the Clippers started 1/9 from three point range. 

IT'S ALL OVER!!!

The Clippers are back to .500 after more than a month! Harden leads the Clips on a night that Nikola Jokic had the worst shooting performance of his career, going 9/32 from the field. 

Powell to the line after the foul on Murray and he drops both FTs. 

Murray drills the three ball from the wing, but it's a little too late for the Nugs. 

George to the line after the Murray foul and he hits both FTs. 

Murray with a walk up lay in off the timeout. Clippers take a timeout with 32.8 to go in the fourth. 

Harden to the line and he hits both FTs. Timeout Nuggets with 38.1 to go. 

Murray missed the three ball out of the timeout and Harden will get sent to the line after picking up the rebound. 

Timeout Nuggets with 45 to go. 

Zubac to the line after the foul on Jokic and he hits both after missing his first four of the night. 

Zubac with a swat on Jokic with 1:21 on the clock and the Cliippers get the ball up 6 with 60 seconds to go. 

Leonard off the dribble and he hits the fall away from the FT line. 

Murray gets into the lane and the runner falls. 

Harden gets the floater to go in the paint. 

Jokic with a jump hook in the lane off the Murray pick and roll. 

Harden with the steal and the lay off for Leonard who jams it home and the Clips lead by 6 with 3:36 to go in the fourth quarter!

Timeout Nuggets. 

Leonard working the baseline downlow and he gets the jump hook to go on the baseline. 

Jokic over the top and Gordon was there for the alley oop slam!

Harden on the step back three ball and the Clippers lead by 4 with under 5 to go. 

Jokic to the line after the foul on Leonard and he hits both FTs. 

Westbrook with the block on one end which leads to the lay in for Powell on the other end. 

Jackson running the break and not for the first time Braun with the lay in off the glass in transition. 

Timeout Clippers with 7:57 to go in the final quarter. 

George with back to back three balls this time from the right wing!

Jackson on the pick and roll and Jordan throws it down!

George answers back with the clock running out!

Jackson drills the three ball from the top of the key against his old team!

Westbrook in transition and lays it in after going into the body of Braun. 

Westbrook to the line after the foul on Strawther and he hits one of two FTs. 

Westbrook with the offensive board and put back to cut the lead to one. 

WE ARE AT THE END OF THE THIRD QUARTER!

The Nuggets retake the lead, albeit a narrow one and we are headed to the final 12 with the Nuggets up by three. 

Jackson to the line after the foul on Theis and he hits one of two FTs. 

Jackson with the pull up three pointer from the right side wing and the Nuggets take the lead again!

Powell picks off the pass from Jokic and finds Leonard in transition for the lay in. 

Timeout Nuggets with 2:25 to go in the third quarter after Denver loses the lead. 

George had his back to the basket with the clock winding down and drills the three ball!

Porter Jr. on the tip slam after the missed three from Murray!

Harden hits the floater in the lane. 

Murray hits the baseline jumper with the shotclock running down. 

Zubac get the hook shot to fall off the dish from Leonard. 

Murray backing down his defender and gets the bucket to go from the block. 

Leonard hits the pull up three ball out of the timeout!

Murray with the step back on the baseline and he drills the deep two!

Timeout Clippers with 7:18 to go in the third quarter. 

Porter Jr. off the dribble and he hits a runner off the glass. 

Porter Jr. drills the three ball from the right wing and he is looking to get hot after a quick start to his night. 

George drive baseline and finishes with a one handed flush!

Murray drive right and hits the runner off the window. 

Zubac with the hook shot in the land after a loose ball fell to him. 

Jokic with three straight buckets for the Nuggets after cleaning up his own rebound. 

George with a mid range fade away off the dribble over MPJ. 

Jokic with back to back buckets after the dump off from Murray. 

Jokic wastes no time getting back on the board, he hits the spot up mid range over Zubac. 

WE ARE BACK FOR THE SECOND HALF OF ACTION FROM LA!!!

Jokic has 12, 8 and 6, Porter Jr. has 11 and Murray has 8 but the Nugs need a bounce back quarter if they want to slow down the Clippers in the second half. 

LA with all the momentum coming out of the break. We will be back from Crypto.com shortly. 

It took PG a little while to get going from the field but the bench stepped up in his absence scoring 28 points, and once George got hot he ended the half with 10 points. 

Harden got the second unit going by pushing the pace and the Clips responded. He ended the half with 11 and 8 assists. 

After going 1/9 from DT in the first quarter the Clippers went 6/6 from behind the arc in the second quarter. 

Theis start the second quarter on fire, scoring the first 8 points of the quarter and spurring the Clips comeback. 

The Nuggets had 12 assists on 14 FGs in the first quarter, but that all disappeared in the second quarter as the Clips locked down on D. 

Jokic had 8 points and 5 assists at the end of the first quarter helping the Nuggets build a 15 point lead, but then he went cold in the second quarter, missing 9 FGs in a row as the Clippers made a comeback. 

Jokic got the party started from behind the arc and the rest of the Nuggets would join the party, going 8/10 from downtown to start the game. 

WE ARE HEADING TO HALFTIME FROM LA!!!

The Clippers erased a 15 point first quarter deficit and lead as many as 9 in the second. They lead by 4 at the break. 

Harden to the line after the foul on Murray and he hits one of two FTs. 

Pick and roll from Murray and Jokic and he keeps it getting the one handed scoop off the glass. 

Murray going strong to the rack and he gets the bucket AND 1! FT is good to complete the three point play. 

Harden drills the step in three ball off the dish from Kawhi and the Clips lead is back up to 8!

Jokic with back to back buckets after missing his last nine field goals!

Jokic lost it and Powell races down the court for the lay in. 

Kawhi missed the mid range, and Zubac is there with the follow and tip in. 

Harden to the line after the foul on Porter Jr. and he hits both FTs. 

Powell flashes to the FT line and Harden finds him for the floater in the lane. 

Timeout Nuggets with 3:59 to go in the second quarter. 

Kawhi hits George with the swing pass and his three ball gives the Clippers their first lead of the night!

Jackson to the line after the foul on Theis and he hits both FTs. 

Brown on the three ball from the right wing and we are tied up here from the Crypto.com Arena!!!

A 15 point deficit has been erased and the Nuggets need a timeout with 6:23 to go in the first half. 

George to the line after the foul on Braun and he hits both FTs. 

Jokic finds Jackson with the eyes in the back of his head and Jackson gets the quick lay in off the glass. 

Powell with four straight points, this time on the coast to coast lay up and the Clippers are down just three after trailing by 15 in the first quarter. 

Powell to the line and he hits both FTs after the foul on Braun. 

Braun pulls up from the elbow and hits the mid range jumper over Harden. 

Harden with the lay up and the foul! He goes to the line and complete the three point play. 

Powell with the pump fake that sent his defender flying and he drills the three ball in the corner!

Watson running the break and dumps it off to Braun for the lay up. 

Jordan throws down the alley after Murray's oop off the pick and roll. 

George comes out of the break and gets the lay up to drop off the dish from Harden. 

Theis is in take over mode!!! He drills a three from the top of the key and he's got 8 points to start this quarter and the lead is back to double digtis!

Timeout Nuggets two minutes into the second quarter. 

Theis with a couple quick buckets to start the quarter, and he's hoping that some of his other guys start to warm up. 

Watson fouled by Brown and he hits both FTs. 

Theis opens the second quarter with a much needed three ball. 

We are at the end of the first quarter!

The three pointers were the story of the first half. Denver went 8/10 from downtown setting a season high for any team in any quarter while the Clippers went 1/9 from behind the arc. 

Jokic has 8 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds while MPJ leads all scorers with 11. 

Braun with the transition slam off the pass from Watson. 

Powell to the line after the foul on Strawther, and he hits both FTs. 

Jackson wide open in the corner after the extra pass from Strawther. 

Leonard with the pull up jumper from outside the lane over Porter Jr. 

Porter Jr. off the screen from Jokic and he strings the three ball again! Denver is 7/8 to start the game and have a 14 point lead!

Timeout Clippers with 3:43 to go in the first quarter. 

Porter Jr. drills another three off another Jokic assist and the Nugs are 6/7 from downtown!

Westbrook with a pull up jumper from outside the lane and the lead is back to single digits. 

George on the spot up three and he is on the board for the first time. 

Jokic on the spin and the finish down the lane. 

Leonard takes a dribble at the top of the key and hits the FT line floater. 

Porter Jr. drills the mid range jumper from the FT line over Zubac. 

Westbrook on the floor for the first time and he gets the put back to go after the miss from Zubac. 

Jokic goes up top for Gordon for the baseline alley opp!

Leonard drive baseline and breaks the mini run by the Nuggers. 

Gordon with the turn around fade away over Harden and the Nuggets are up by 13 already. 

Porter Jr. drills the three ball out of the timeout and the Nuggets are 5/6 from downtown. 

Gordon with a power dribble on the baseline and gets the lay to drop. 

Timeout Clippers after a hot start from the Nuggets from DT. 

KCP drills a three ball after the offensive board from Porter Jr. and the Nuggets have hit four threes to start this game!

Mann gets the runner on the right side to fall after a friendly roll. 

Jokic with another three ball and if he starts hitting those early it's going to be trouble for the Clips. 

Harden goes slashing to the bucket and gets the lay up off the glass to go. 

Murray drills the three ball of the interior dish from Jokic. 

Zubac gets the slip pass from George and gets the floater to drop in the lane. 

Jokic open the game up with a three ball from the top of the key!

WE ARE UNDERWAY FROM CRYTO.COM ARENA!!!

Russell Westbrook did one of the most unselfish things we have seen over his long and illustrious career. He accepted and even volunteered to take a bench role to allow Terrance Mann to be the starter with Kawhi, PG and Harden with Zubac who will be down low banging with Jokic all night. 

It's been a long road stretch with a few home games sprinkled in between, but the Nuggets have survived and even got stronger over the last month. Jamal Murray is back and Mike Malone has his five best players in the starting five in LA tonight for this showdown against the Clippers. 

Nuggets road struggles 

There is nothing like home cooking, and the Nuggets are testament to that. The defending champs are undefeated at home, but have lost seven of 12 games on the road. They won 8 of their first 9 games to start the season, but are in the midst of a difficult stretch of road games in which they have played nine of their last 12 games away from Ball Arena. In those nine games they are just 3-6, and have dropped a few spots down the Western Conference. 

How the West is looking 

Taking a look at the Western Conference standings we see the Timberwolves still holding strong at the top of the table at 15-4 almost a quarter of a way through the season. The West is as tough as we have ever seen it so tip your cap to Anthony Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns and company, but they have the Nuggets and the handful of teams nipping at their heels. The Nuggets are 14-7, right below the blossoming Thunder who are 13-6 coming into tonight. The Clippers a little farther down the table, currently occupying what would be a Play-In position if the season ended today. The Clips expect to be a team competing for a chance to host a series, if not multiple series in LA come playoff time not scraping the bottom of the barrel to try and squeak through the Play-In Tournament. 

Already playing like Playoff P

Paul George has admitted earlier this year that he may not be the guy that needs to be leading the team in scoring each and every game, and that he is okay being the sidekick. So far, he has been the super hero on a team that is still trying to work out the kinds. He is averaging 23.5 points a game, averaging 5.8 rebounds and dishing 4.3 assists a night and if the Clippers are going to turn things around, it’s going to have to be on the shoulder of him and Kawhi Leonard. 

Joker in LaLa Land

The Joker is coming off his eighth triple double of the season which is impressive enough, but when you take into consideration that he has only played 20 games this season you get to understand just how special this dude is. We are seeing history play out in front of our eyes every time he steps on the court, and tonight is no different especially when you think about the stage he steps into tonight. He is averaging 29 points, 12.8 rebounds and 9.8 assists which are better numbers than he put up in either of his two MVP seasons. 

Clips last game

LA is coming off of a back to back home and away series against the Golden State Warriors, in which they split the series. The Clips lost the opening game in the Bay but edged out the Warriors by a point in their last game. Paul George was the hero after LA came back from 22 down in the second half. George hit a three pointer with nine seconds left in the game to cap a 7-1 run to seal the win. Draymond Green had the ball in his hands with a chance to win the game, but missed a three pointer to put the Clips a game away from .500 on the season.

Nuggets last game

Denver had their four game win streak snapped in Sacramento against a young but talented team looking to knock the Nuggets off of their throne. Nikola Jokic posted another triple double with 36, 13 and 14 assists, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Deaaron Fox’s 16 assists and the Kings who built up a 17 point second half lead form the Golden 1 Center. The Nuggets shot just 27% from downtown, but cut the deficit to two with three minutes left in the fourth, but Sacramento held for the win to hand the Nuggets their 7th loss of the season.  

We are live from LA

Hello everyone and welcome to the City of Stars where there will be plenty of star power on the court tonight. Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets haven’t been as invincible as the were last year, but they are still floating around the top of the Western Conference, while the Clippers are trying to get back to .500 after losing three of their last five games. It’s still early in the season but it’s never too early to start looking at the playoff standings as we approach the quarter mark of the season. 

Nuggets vs. Clippers live 

The defending Champions continue wrap up their west coast road swing in LA with a showdown with the LA Clippers who are still looking to figure things out with a roster full of stars. Nikola Jokic and the Nugs take on Kawhi and the Clippers tonight and AS English will be with you all night providing live coverage, stats, highlights and analysis of tonight’s late night tip off from Crypto.com Arena.