Nuggets Face Must-Win Game 4 vs Clippers

The Denver Nuggets are on the ropes, entering a must-win Game 4 in a hostile environment.

After a miraculous comeback and overtime win in Game 1, the Nuggets have dropped two in a row to the red-hot Los Angeles Clippers. In the first playoff game at Intuit Dome, the hosting Clippers dominated the visitors from the opening tip. A 34-point defeat marked the worst loss of the season for the Nuggets. Now, Denver is staring at another game in Los Angeles and a potential 3-1 deficit.

It was a lifeless effort from the Nuggets’ side. They offered minimal resistance defensively and got outworked on both ends of the floor. LA’s James Harden set the tone with 20 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds in the first half. Harden was held scoreless in the second half, but the rest of the Clippers shot 50-percent from the field and from three over the final two quarters to secure the dominant victory.

For Denver, Nikola Jokic’s triple double (23/13/13) and Jamal Murray’s 23 points on 53-percent shooting didn’t matter. At one point, Jokic was visibly frustrated with his teammates during a timeout.

The sharpshooting Michael Porter Jr. scored 7 points (2-of-9 shooting) and Denver’s entire bench accounted for just 6 points.

Game 3 showed that the Nuggets are vulnerable to a blowout loss if the Clippers play a complete game. The first two contests were tightly-contested, and could have gone to either team. Denver is fortunate the series isn’t 3-0 in LA’s favor — though, to be fair, it just as easily could be a 2-1 Nuggets lead.

No matter what happens in Game 4, this series will head back to Denver for a Game 5. Usually a strong home team, the Nuggets have fallen flat at Ball Arena in the playoff lately.

They dropped three games at home to Minnesota during last year’s Western Conference Semifinal matchup. And, they needed a pair of Murray buzzer beaters to fend off the visiting Lakers the series before that. The Clippers showed no fear in two games on the road, and will be looking to potentially close out the series in Denver on Tuesday.

Of course, losing the pivotal Game 4 would put the Nuggets in a familiar position — down 3-1 to the Clippers in a playoff series. The last time these two teams faced off in the postseason was the Nuggets crawling back from a 3-1 deficit to stun the Clippers in the bubble. While some of the main players are still the same — Jokic, Murray, and Kawhi Leonard — both teams look awfully different.

If the Nuggets go down 3-1 this time, there may not be a path to come back in the series.