LOS ANGELES – Before taking on the Nuggets, Doc Rivers talked about how every day is about building the right habits and letting go of the bad ones while getting ready for the playoffs.
Next Game: 2/26
While they try to toss out the rough ones, nights like Wednesday can still occur, as the Clippers (37-20) failed to hit shots all night while tossing up a franchise record 46 3-point attempts and only making 13 in an 87-81 loss to the Nuggets (23-25).
The Clippers jumped out to an 11-2 lead to start the game, but that would be their largest lead of the night. The Nuggets went on a 13-0 run later in the quarter, one of two separate runs of at least 12-0 for Denver in the first half, as the Nuggets would go on to break a tie by ending the second quarter on a 14-0 run to take a double-digit lead into the half.
Head coach Doc Rivers said that stretch changed the game, as he thought the Clippers let the misses start to frustrate them.
J.J. Redick and Jamal Crawford finished with 20 points apiece, while Chris Paul added 17 points. But the rest of the Clippers combined to go 9-for-37, as the Clippers shot just 35.3 percent from the floor while committing 17 turnovers.
Paul came up hobbling in the third quarter but stayed in the game, continuing to get the Clippers good looks, eventually helping the Clippers cut the deficit to four points on a Wesley Johnson 3-pointer. But it didn’t take long for the Denver lead to get back up to nine, as the Clippers failed to tie or take the lead in the second half despite getting close more than once.
The Clippers appeared to gain some energy late, sensing the urgency in the fourth quarter, with a hustle play leading to a Jamal Crawford second-chance 3-pointer which got the crowd back into it. Crawford would hit another, getting the Clippers within single digits.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets scored just 18 points in the third and 16 in the fourth, giving the Clippers a chance to crawl back into the game; but for the most part, shots just weren’t falling. The Clippers cut the deficit to two twice in the final three and a half minutes, but failed to even the score or go ahead late.
