The Denver Nuggets came to play in game six of their first round series against the Los Angeles Clippers. They end up never trailing in a blowout victory to take a 3-2 lead in the series. Jamal Murray was brilliant scoring forty-three points while Nikola Jokic chipped in with a ho-hum triple double. Denver got up early and asserted their will over the course of the game before blowing it wide open in the second half. Now they head back to Los Angeles looking to clinch the series.
Denver came out scoring with Aaron Gordon leading the way. That got them a small lead in the early going while L.A. was also struggling to score. Murray got in on the scoring action with a couple nice plays (including a big dunk) and the Nuggets started to take control. After a Murray layup put Denver up by eleven the Clippers needed a timeout. They regrouped after that and and leaned on James Harden and Kawhi Leonard to keep within striking distance. Denver maintained a lead through the meat of the quarter and were up nine with two minutes left. They closed strong and finished the first leading 35-23.
JAMAL WITH THE RIM ATTACK. pic.twitter.com/1vYxMzyRJK
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) April 30, 2025
Russell Westbrook was feeling it to start the second quarter and kept Denver’s offense afloat while Jokic got some rest. Ivica Zubac got going for Los Angeles which kept the lead from growing but the Clippers also couldn’t handle Denver’s backcourt combo of Russ and Murray. About midway through the quarter the Nuggets offense went cold and that let the Clippers get the lead back under ten. Kris Dunn was hitting threes while the Nuggets couldn’t get field goals. Los Angeles couldn’t capitalize though and Denver was still up eleven with two minutes to go. The Nuggets couldn’t string together enough baskets to put a big cushion between them and L.A. and went to the locker room up 67-59.
THREE BALL
💥 13 pts for Russ pic.twitter.com/Pi7s2t6A1k
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) April 30, 2025
Murray picked up right where they left off in the first half and the Nuggets opened the second half on a big run. With over nine minutes still to play in the third the lead was up to sixteen. The momentum was tilting in Denver’s favor and it was starting to look like they might finally open up a big advantage. They got up by as much as seventeen before Kawhi finally got something going for the Clippers offense. Denver started to get sloppy on offense, and L.A. went on a run to get the lead back down to eight. Murray helped push it back up to double digits down the stretch but the Clippers had found new life. Christian Braun knocked down a three right before the buzzer to cap an 11-3 run on another big close for Denver and they ended the third up 99-83.
Pullin’ up for two pic.twitter.com/cKTAVPP3TZ
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) April 30, 2025
The fourth started with more Nuggets buckets but the good spirits were dampened by Murray rolling his ankle. He was able to stay in the game and shortly thereafter finished a fastbreak with a big slam to put Denver up twenty-two. The Nuggets offense stalled a bit after that and the Clippers started chipping away at the lead. When they got within fourteen David Adelman took a timeout to refocus his team and prevent a collapse. The intensity picked up with L.A. on the cusp of getting back into the game behind Kawhi and Zubac. They kept working down the lead and had it down to nine with four minutes to go. Murray was not going to let Denver lose. He took the game over down the stretch and put the Nuggets back up by more than a dozen. Gordon hit a three to put the lead up to seventeen with two an half minutes to go and it was over. The Nuggets go wire to wire and win big 131-115.
*keeps adding to the highlight reel* pic.twitter.com/fSOFT8TFWh
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) April 30, 2025
