Typically, Kawhi Leonard said after Game 4 Saturday at Intuit Dome, the four and five seeds in NBA playoff matchups are equal in many ways.
That appears to very much be the case in the fifth-seeded Clippers‘ first-round series against the fourth-seeded Denver Nuggets.
They have each won two games, with Game 5 scheduled for Tuesday night in Denver.
They had identical 50-32 records and split the four games they played against each other in the regular season.
Read more:Nuggets beat Clippers in Game 4 with a buzzer-beating tip-in dunk
“It’s like another four, five seeding series,” Leonard said. “You usually get some tough battles in these seedings. You guys watched the ending of the last two weeks, three weeks of the season and everybody was fighting. I think we pretty much have the same record. So, that’s how it is. The matchups might be different, different styles of play, but both teams are fighting to win.”
Three of the four games have come down to the final seconds. The Clippers lost Game 1 in overtime by two points. The Clippers won Game 2 on the road by three points. The Clippers blew out the Nuggets in Game 3 by 37 points. In Game 4, Aaron Gordon tipped in a Nikola Jokic missed three-pointer with a power dunk just before time expired to give Denver a two-point win.
The latest loss was emotionally draining for the Clippers after their rally from a 22-point deficit fell just short.
“Just bounce back,” Norman Powell said. “We know what time it is. We’ve all said it — that’s a good team over there. They’ve won a championship. They know what it takes. They got the will, they got the guys, they are not going to quit. It’s just us going back to the drawing board and seeing how we can improve.”
All five of Denver’s starters played at least 42 minutes in Game 4. But they got two days off to recover.
And the Nuggets have Jokic — he’s averaging a triple-double in the series with 28.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and 10.8 assists.
Read more:Clippers guard Norman Powell trusts his work when taking big shots
“We’re going back to Denver, so I think now it’s best-of-three and the series is even and it’s completely different, I would think,” Jokic said.
The Clippers are leaning on their four top players to guide them and their formidable defense.
Leonard leads in scoring (26.5 points per game), followed by James Harden (21.3), Ivica Zubac (18.8) and Powell (16.8). Zubac leads the Clippers in rebounding (11.5 per game), Harden leads in assists (9.5), Leonard leads in steals (1.8) and veteran Nicholas Batum leads in blocks (1.2).
The Clippers are holding the Nuggets to 99.5 points per game in the series, the fifth-best defense in the postseason.
“We feel good that we can beat this team,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Typically, Kawhi Leonard said after Game 4 Saturday at Intuit Dome, the four and five seeds in NBA playoff matchups are equal in many ways.
That appears to very much be the case in the fifth-seeded Clippers‘ first-round series against the fourth-seeded Denver Nuggets.
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They have each won two games, with Game 5 scheduled for Tuesday night in Denver.
They had identical 50-32 records and split the four games they played against each other in the regular season.
Read more: Nuggets beat Clippers in Game 4 with a buzzer-beating tip-in dunk
“It’s like another four, five seeding series,” Leonard said. “You usually get some tough battles in these seedings. You guys watched the ending of the last two weeks, three weeks of the season and everybody was fighting. I think we pretty much have the same record. So, that’s how it is. The matchups might be different, different styles of play, but both teams are fighting to win.”
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Three of the four games have come down to the final seconds. The Clippers lost Game 1 in overtime by two points. The Clippers won Game 2 on the road by three points. The Clippers blew out the Nuggets in Game 3 by 37 points. In Game 4, Aaron Gordon tipped in a Nikola Jokic missed three-pointer with a power dunk just before time expired to give Denver a two-point win.
The latest loss was emotionally draining for the Clippers after their rally from a 22-point deficit fell just short.
“Just bounce back,” Norman Powell said. “We know what time it is. We’ve all said it — that’s a good team over there. They’ve won a championship. They know what it takes. They got the will, they got the guys, they are not going to quit. It’s just us going back to the drawing board and seeing how we can improve.”
All five of Denver’s starters played at least 42 minutes in Game 4. But they got two days off to recover.
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And the Nuggets have Jokic — he’s averaging a triple-double in the series with 28.5 points, 13.5 rebounds and 10.8 assists.
Read more: Clippers guard Norman Powell trusts his work when taking big shots
“We’re going back to Denver, so I think now it’s best-of-three and the series is even and it’s completely different, I would think,” Jokic said.
The Clippers are leaning on their four top players to guide them and their formidable defense.
Leonard leads in scoring (26.5 points per game), followed by James Harden (21.3), Ivica Zubac (18.8) and Powell (16.8). Zubac leads the Clippers in rebounding (11.5 per game), Harden leads in assists (9.5), Leonard leads in steals (1.8) and veteran Nicholas Batum leads in blocks (1.2).
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The Clippers are holding the Nuggets to 99.5 points per game in the series, the fifth-best defense in the postseason.
“We feel good that we can beat this team,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
