11/12/2023 0 Comments Nuggets vs clippers game 5You know, next year we’ll be right back at it … and I can’t wait.” And I’m expecting the backlash, but that doesn’t define who you are as a man or as a basketball player. “Y’all are only doing your job,” Morris said. They came up woefully short of expectations, given all the championship bluster and hype that followed last summer’s free agent acquisition of Leonard, and the blockbuster trade with Oklahoma City (exchanging promising young point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a staggering five first-round draft picks for George) that was supposed to have shifted the balance of power in the league in favor of the Clippers. and Reggie Jackson - and healthy players all in place for the playoffs.įans and pundits alike will pick over the bones of this Clippers team, and with good reason. It’ll be hard to sell the long-term plan when many considered these Clippers the title favorites all season, and particularly with their newest additions - veterans Marcus Morris Sr. But we’ve been very optimistic about us being together and building something going down the road.” “Year 1 together, first run together, of course we wanted to win this. Reigning Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard scored just 14 points while missing 16 of 22 shots, only marginally better than All-Star swingman Paul George’s 10 points on 4-for-16 shooting. Their gaudy performances only served to highlight the vanishing act of the Clippers’ two biggest stars with everything on the line. The Nuggets got a 40-point masterpiece from Jamal Murray and a 16-point, 22-rebound, 13-assist triple-double from All-NBA center Nikola Jokic. And you could see it as the games went on.” Honestly, you could just see the difference in the two teams. “But we didn’t meet our expectations, clearly. “I’m the coach and I’ll take any blame for it,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. They ended their season on the wrong side of history, eliminated by a Nuggets team that, following their victory over Utah in the first round, became the first to come back from 3-1 deficits in consecutive series. Instead of a historic romp to the conference finals for the first time in franchise annals, the Clippers exited the NBA bubble on a soggy Tuesday night as punchlines once again. The Nuggets will take that spot opposite the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference finals, the one everyone had reserved for this star-studded Clippers team that crumbled under the pressure down the stretch in three straight games to get bounced from the bubble eight wins shy of their ultimate goal. The LA Clippers were finally dressed for championship success.īut that music pounding through the walls late into the night at AdventHealth Arena were coming from the opposing locker room, where the Denver Nuggets were busy celebrating their stunning and historic 104-89 victory over the Clippers in Game 7. Not for a team with the championship coach, the reigning Finals MVP, the superstar sidekick, the Sixth Man of the Year bench brigade and a rebranded franchise bankrolled by the richest owner in the league. ORLANDO - It wasn’t supposed to end this way.
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