The Los Angeles Clippers dropped Recreation 5 of their first spherical sequence in opposition to the Denver Nuggets, making it two straight losses for Kawhi Leonard’s group and putting them only one loss away from elimination.
After back-to-back lackluster efforts during which they trailed by at the least 20 factors, the Clippers are desperately looking for a solution.
Kawhi Leonard’s blunt response to dealing with elimination vs. Nuggets
Kawhi Leonard completed Tuesday’s Recreation 5 loss in opposition to the Nuggets with 20 factors, 9 rebounds, 11 assists, two blocks, and only one turnovers in 37 minutes of play. The 11 assists marked a brand new playoff career-high, nevertheless it did not matter as Denver led by double-digits for many of the second half.
James Harden was primarily absent for a second consecutive recreation, recording 11 factors, eight rebounds, and 5 assists on simply 3-of-9 capturing from the ground. The Nuggets have dedicated to blitzing pick-and-rolls involving him, which has primarily taken him out of actions as soon as he makes a go to the open roll man.
Jamal Murray and Russell Westbrook have been the first causes for the Nuggets robust begin, with the guards every outscoring Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, and Norman Powell on the night time.
Murray scored a game-high 43 factors, 5 rebounds, seven assists, and three steals whereas capturing 17-of-26 from the sphere and 8-of-14 from three. Westbrook added 21 factors on 8-of-15 capturing with a trio of three-pointers.
“Tonight, he performed nice,” Kawhi Leonard mentioned of Jamal Murray. “He got here out, made photographs, obtained sizzling, discovered his teammates, and we just about could not cease him. He performed wonderful. Russ got here in and performed nice as properly, scoring it with 10 or 15 factors. General a great group win for them.”
Head coach Tyronn Lue agrees, citing Murray’s robust begin as the rationale the Clippers obtained down as many as 12 within the first quarter and have been by no means in a position to absolutely recuperate.
“I assumed the powerful begin was Jamal Murray,” Lue mentioned after the loss. “I assumed he got here out being aggressive, which we knew he would. That is why we began with the blitz in opposition to him, to sluggish him down, as a result of we knew in Recreation 5, he would come out aggressive. He made each shot. Pull-up threes, mid-rangers. We did all the pieces in opposition to him; we blitzed, we dropped, we switched, we did plenty of completely different coverages however he had a hell of a recreation.
In each recreation this sequence so far, the Clippers have been vastly outplayed within the opening minutes. By the 25 complete minutes — the primary 5 minutes of every recreation — the Nuggets have outscored the Clippers 76-53. LA has gone on to win the remaining 220 minutes, 493-453.
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“So far as us defensively, simply having that presence to start out the sport,” Lue added. “I believe the final three video games, they have been actually attacking us to start out the sport early, so we now have to be higher with that, particularly on the highway. However they performed properly, they performed nice. Holding Joker to 13 factors and shedding the sport is hard, however that is how they beat you. In case you fear about him an excessive amount of, different guys can beat you. However I assumed Jamal Murray was wonderful tonight.”
Kawhi Leonard took positives from the truth that the Clippers solely turned the ball over 10 instances on the night time, however their protection was the most important downside, permitting a 131 factors to a group that had struggled to attain for many of this sequence.
“I am glad that we have been in a position to maintain the ball,” Leonard mentioned. “Now we have to maintain doing that. We simply need to do it once more just about and we have to get some stops. I really feel like they have been scoring the ball quite a bit and we did not get no stops. We have been getting down in transition and half-court units scoring as properly, however we have to get stops.
Nikola Jokic recorded simply 13 factors on 4-of-13 capturing, however added 10 rebounds and 12 assists for his fourth triple-double in 5 video games thus far this postseason. Aaron Gordon added 23 factors and 4 rebounds whereas Christian Braun scored 11 factors and grabbed 12 rebounds.
“Simply attempt to get out to a greater begin early,” Leonard added. “I believe we just about the entire sequence have most likely gotten out to an ideal begin, so simply making an attempt to remain within the recreation early as an alternative of making an attempt to make the heroic comebacks. That is all we are able to do. We have got to combat now.”
Now dealing with elimination, Leonard simply needs his Clippers to proceed taking part in assured with a next-play mentality.
“Simply taking it one possession at a time. Going on the market, making an attempt to start out the sport off in a great way and do not get down early. But when we do, simply keep poised, preserve preventing, reside with our errors, and we simply need to play confidently.”
Recreation 6 is scheduled to tip off at 7PM PST on TNT. It might very properly be the Clippers’ last recreation of the season, and a Nuggets win would ship them to the second spherical, the place the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder await.