The duel between Denver nuggets of Facundo Campazzo and Los Angeles Clippers by Serge Ibaka he settled in favor of the seconds despite the fact that the Californian team played the last six minutes without their main man, Kawhi Leonard, who had to retire after a clash with Ibaka.Leonard left the court bleeding from his mouth after being elbowed by his teammate as they battled for a rebound late in the game.
After last season’s comeback by the Nuggets against the Clippers, when the Denver team became the first team to overcome 1-3 to win the series 4-3 and advance to the conference final, the game was presented as a rematch since it was the first time the two teams had met since then.
This time, the Clippers arrived in Denver reinforced with the presence of the Spanish-Congolese Serge Ibaka, from the Toronto Raptors. For their part, the Nuggets have added Argentine Facundo Campazzo to their ranks in his first NBA season.
But beyond the opportunity for the Clippers to erase some of the bitterness of last season’s elimination, the most important for the team of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George It was to show that they are a serious pretender to the NBA championship.
And the Clippers took to the field ready to signal that they must be counted on. After the initial skirmishes in which the two teams met, the Angelenos began to separate on the scoreboard. On defense and offense, the Clippers outscored the Nuggets.
To try to straighten the match, to With 1.49 minutes remaining in the first quarter, Nuggets coach Michael Malone sent Campazzo onto the track to replace Porter Jr.
The change did not work. The Argentine point guard pressed from the baseline to make it difficult for the Clippers to attack but Ibaka’s team continued to move the ball comfortably and score with ease.
In the Nuggets only Nikola Jokic, with 10 points and 4 rebounds, held the guy. While, Ibaka after playing seven minutes he had 3 points thanks to a triple and a rebound. The best of the Clippers was Paul George, with 10 points and 4 rebounds.
The second quarter started with those of Malone in defense in the zone to try to change the rhythm of the game. But in just under two minutes, the Clippers had increased the distance to 13 points, 28-41 and Malone sent a Campazzo to the bench after playing 3.11 minutes and with a box full of zeros.
The Clippers continued to move the ball with ease on offense, allowing them to find the best man to score, most of the time. Leonard or George. And when they didn’t score first time, his rebound control allowed him second and third attempts at the opposite basket.
At halftime they reached 55-72 on the scoreboard, a difference of 17 points. Ibaka scored another three points in the second quarter, Leonard he went to the locker room with 12 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals and Geoerge with 13 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal.
The pivot Jokic he continued to be the Nuggets’ strongman with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists.
After the break, the Clippers were content to manage the difference they had made in the first 24 minutes of play and in the third quarter they scored a total of 26 points for the 24 of the Nuggets, which left the scoreboard at the end of the third quarter at 79-98, with Jokic as a prop of the Nuggets and George the Clippers’ leading scorer with 21 points.
In the fourth quarter, the Nuggets tried to repeat history and turn the score around. The team of Campazzo he endorsed the Clippers 6-0. But even though Jamal murray woke up and his 3s cut the distance to 11 points, the Clippers prevailed thanks to the efficiency of George.
At the end, Jokic he was the leading scorer of the game, with 24 points, followed by George with 23. Jokic was also the leader in assists, 10, and had nine rebounds. Ibaka he had another effective night, with 15 points, 2 rebounds, two assists and a block, making him the Clippers’ third most valuable player.
