Overnight the Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 104-89 in the NBA playoffs, completing a comeback that few believed possible. In the series played at the best of seven races in the Disney World “bubble”, the Clippers had taken the lead 3-1 but then failed to obtain the fourth and final victory to qualify for the finals of the Western Conference, the championship of teams of the west. Denver has thus incredibly managed to recover by winning the last three games of the series, thanks to great team performances and the performances of its best players, Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic, authors of 56 points overall in game seven.
Nikola Jokic (16 PTS, 22 REB, 13 AST) becomes the first player in NBA playoff history to record a 20+ rebound triple-double in a Game 7!@nuggets advance to the Western Conference Finals vs. LAL starting Friday at 9pm/et on TNT. pic.twitter.com/rU5Vazyf2Z
– NBA (@NBA) September 16, 2020
The Clippers were considered among the big favorites for the final victory, but already in the first round of the playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks they did not seem to work properly, especially in attack. The flaws were confirmed in the last decisive game, with the two key players, Kawhi Leonard – best player of the last season – and Paul George able to score just 24 points and in evident difficulty in shooting. In recent days there was ironic talk of the “Curse of the Clippers” that has been circulating in the NBA since the 1970s and which has since accompanied the many disappointments of the Los Angeles team, which do not seem over yet.
Denver thus became the first NBA team to recover two consecutive series from a 3-1 disadvantage, which has also confirmed the highest frequency of comebacks in the Orlando bubble. Serbian center Jokic continues to be his driver. In the penultimate game of the series he managed to score 34 points, 14 rebounds and 7 assists. It was then repeated last night with a “triple double” of 16 points, 22 rebounds and 13 assists made in just three quarters of the game. With Canadian Jamal Murray, scoring 40 points in game seven, Denver will now face the Lakers of LeBron James and Anthony Davis in the Western Conference final, as happened for the last time in 2009. The other conference final, Boston Celtics -Miami Heat, started yesterday with the Miami win.
Jamal Murray (@ BeMore27) pours in 40 PTS (25 in 1st half) to help the @nuggets win Game 7 and advance to the Western Conference Finals! #Drop40
DEN/LAL Game 1: Friday – 9pm/et, TNT pic.twitter.com/jrFpsd8bqM
– NBA (@NBA) September 16, 2020
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