DENVER NUGGETS VS LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
1.72
TOTAL POINTS (INCL OVERTIME) - UNDER 210.5
The most competitive series of the NBA Playoffs so far is tied at two all heading into game five in Denver tonight. It was a crazy ending to the game four of the series at The Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The Nuggets came out on top after Aaron Gordon’s dunk at the buzzer after almost blowing a 20 point lead to start the 4th quarter.
Game four was close heading into halftime (The Nuggets up 50-48) and Denver came out and blew out The Clippers in the third quarter 35-17 and were up 20 points going into the last quarter of the game. Then The Clippers won the last part 34-16. It was tied at 99 with The Nuggets having the ball in their hands going into the last possession. Nikola Jokic airballed his shot which Aaron Gordon grabbed the ball and dunked it at the buzzer. A buzzer beater with the smallest of margins timewise.
The Serbian big man out of Sombor (in the northern part of the country) scored 36 of Denver’s 101 points in game four. He had a stellar NBA playoff performance with 21 rebounds, eight dimes, two steals and one block. This was his 46th playoff win of his career. The three time MVP played 43 minutes out of 48, including the whole second half. Nikola made 14 out of his attempted 25 shots. Jokic hit three out of six shots from beyond the arc.
All of the Nuggets starters played for at least 42 minutes. The interim head coach, David Adelman spoke to nba.com and said: “Our starting five has to be on the court a majority of the game and I'm going to make sure they get breaks”. Denver has far from the options that the Los Angeles Clippers have. In other words, The Nuggets need another stellar performance from Jokic to win game five.
The Nuggets don't have the options as the LA Clippers have. Plus they're banged up. Russel Westbrook is questionable going into the 5th game of the series. He is a game time decision. Aaron Gordon is dealing with his calf injury but will play. The unsung hero for Denver in game four was Micheal Porter Jr. He is playing with a severe shoulder injury. Porter is pretty much out there on the floor with one arm and is adjusting his style of play on the go. Porter Jr scored 17 points and made four of seven shots from downtown. He also had four boards and two dimes.
The Nuggets came out and in game four of the series with a pretty high level of physicality that the Clippers seemed not ready for. How will they respond at the tip off in game five tonight? Denver were able to make life difficult for both Harden and Leonard in game four. Harden had 15 points and Kahwi scored 24. Harden was involved with Christian Braun (at the end of the second quarter) in a brawl that resulted in five technical fouls. Bogdanovic had a spectacular fourth quarter in game four. Bogdan finished the game with a plus 22 in 19 minutes of playing time and scored seven points.
At this point of the series, tied at two all, it's about who wants it more. Which players are willing to run through a wall to win the series? Clippers sharp shooter, Norman Powell said the following to nba.com: ”No team willing to give an inch. No team will back down. We're going to fight and we have the guys for it“. That is a very good summary about this entertaining series in the Western conference. Usually the team that wins game five, when it's tied at two all, goes through. Most of the games in the series have been low scoring ones. I believe that pattern will repeat itself in game five.
