Nuggets ends up winning streak over Clippers
Los Angeles – The Denver Nuggets traveled to California for the third time in four games but finally lost one to the Los Angeles Clippers, 109-103.
Coach Michael Malone was sceptical with and thoughtful to game plan in preparation for opening night against the Clippers next week.
Denver’s starters played the first twelve minutes of the game together, then made way for 36 minutes of bench play from the Nuggets. Paul Millsap had three blocks and Nikola Jokic had three assists, but other than Will Barton’s 11 points in the quarter nobody else really stood out.
The bench came out strong though Trey Lyles had 15 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists while Monte Morrisput up 14 points and 6 assists, with a few showy dunk assists to Mason Plumlee.
Jokic had a nice handoff assist and screen for a three by Jamal Murray to open the scoring. Paul Millsap blocked Boban Marjanovic as Denver had active hands early. Barton hit at three to get Denver to a 7-2 lead, but Marjanovic in the paint was a handful, scoring 6 straight points as Jokic got two quick fouls.
The Nuggets bricked several shots in a row, scared of Boban’s paint presence as Jokic struggled to run the offense and the Clippers roared back to a 12-7 advantage. The Nugget fought back, though, with Gary Harris doing this:
Barton hit a paint rainbow to tie it at 14 and make a beautiful full-court transition bucket, while Millsap got two more blocks with a pair of buckets at last (it’s been a tough-shooting preseason for him) but thanks to a barrage of three pointers from Los Angeles Denver trailed 30-26 after one quarter.
The bench all came in together to start the second quarter, where the Clippers kept hitting threes no matter who was in the game. A steal and dunk took it to 38-28 Clippers early. Lyles drained a 3 after a timeout, and a Beasley-to-Plumlee jam helped Denver’s bench claw their way back. Lyles and Torrey Craig hit shots, Craig then smashed a recovery block and Malik Beasley dunked it on the other end, and Plumlee capped a 12-0 run to put Denver back up 45-43.
The Clippers fought back though as Lou Williams heated up, while Denver played through Monte Morris and Plumlee. Trey Lyles tossed the ball up from everywhere with 12 points in the quarter, while Hernangomez came in for some small ball paint presence. Monte Morris hit a three, then made a drive near the end of the quarter to go up 64-61 at halftime.
Denver’s bench comes back out to start the third quarter, but shot cold despite some good looks and ball movement. Denver lost the lead 66-64 a couple of minutes in, and despite some excellent opportunities the sloppy play caused Malone to spend a pair of timeouts in the first 5 minutes of the quarter with the Nuggets down 74-68. The Nuggets had too many turnovers and couldn’t buy a shot (3-for-15 to start the quarter) but kept playing hard and cleaning the defensive glass and somehow the game was knotted at 80 going to the fourth.
The Clippers started the final quarter on a 7-0 run as the Clippers kept it clamped down defensively, including a pair of blocks by Montrezl Harrell. Tom Welsh hit a jumper to jumpstart Denver’s scoring. Hernangomez banked in a shot, grabbed a rebound and laid in another bucket as Denver closed the distance. His rebound and assist to Beasley cut the lead to one at 90-89 Clippers with seven minutes to go.
The Clippers’ Wesley Johnson hit a pair of buckets out of a timeout though, and the Clippers led the rest out the way, closing out with a six point victory as the benches emptied to give the ends of the roster some more film.
Coach: “I’m sure Doc Rivers is not going to show his hand tonight, and we’re not going to show our hand. I’m more worried about us as opposed to next Wednesday when we play them in the season opener,” Malone said.
The Nuggets are coming off a win Friday against the Perth Wildcats of Australia’s National Basketball League where they got a look at their starting five for the first time this preseason. For Malone, tonight is all about getting cohesion with that group.
Malik Beasley’s hot shooting: Beasley is currently shooting 13-for-23 from the field and 11-for-16 from deep in the preseason. Beasley’s shooting has been a spark for a second unit that has been huge for the Nuggets as the first unit looks for more rhythm.
Minutes for the starters: Malone says that he wants his starters to play 30 or more minutes in one of the two final preseason games. He’s not sure what game that will be but getting that group a workload that they’ll have in the regular season is important for Malone.
“I do not want to get into October 17th and have guys in the fourth quarter saying ‘man, I haven’t been here since last season’ so I have to get that done,” Malone told to sources.
Final until next week.#MileHighBasketball pic.twitter.com/Wj54RLWL68
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) October 10, 2018
