On a Wednesday night Clippers and Kawhi Leonard nearly wasted an early lead, but the Los Angeles Clippers are now just a single win away from reaching the Western Conference Finals.
Kawhi Leonard led the way his team to win the game 4, He dropped 30 points while getting 11 rebounds and nine assists. Montrezl Harrell added 15 points coming off the bench, and Lou Williams finished with 12.
Kawhi Leonard's near triple-double propels the @LAClippers to a 3-1 series lead! #NBAPlayoffs
30 PTS | 11 REB | 9 AST | 4 STL
Game 5: Friday, 6:30pm/et on TNT pic.twitter.com/Hbmww8xc5z
— NBA (@NBA) September 10, 2020
After gaining an 18-point lead in the second quarter, Clippers saw Denver coming back and tie it at 48 early in the third quarter. The Clippers responded with a 21-5 run to gain some momentum.
Nikola Jokic took charge of Nuggets with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Jamal Murray put in 18 points and Michael Porter Jr. scored 15 points off the bench. They were in a similar situation against Utah Jazz in the previous first-round series but later successfully overcome the 3-1 lead.
“This is a different opponent, obviously. A very talented, deep team,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.
“But I think we do have confidence in being a resilient group and being a team that when everyone else has written us off, we have found a way.”
Los Angeles anticipates on astronomical defence, holding Nuggets to 39.7% shooting and forcing three shot-clock violations.
One of the players who took defensive duties guarding the Nuggets team was Paul George, who stopped Jamal Murray to 6/15 shooting and scoring only 18 points in game 4. Paul George scored 10 points in nearly 27 minutes as he dealt with a foul limit.
“We knew that when we were getting him,”
Clippers coach Doc Rivers said of George’s defensive tenacity. “It gets lost at times, with P.G., because he’s such a great shooter. The better shooter you are the more people forget how good you are defensively.”
Game leaders
LA Clippers
- Points: Kawhi Leonard – 30
- Assists: Kawhi Leonard – 9
- Rebounds: Kawhi Leonard – 11
Denver Nuggets
- Points: Nikola Jokic – 26
- Assists: Jamal Murray – 7
- Rebounds: Nikla Jokic – 11
Clippers lead series 3-1
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