Game 7 between the Denver Nuggets and the LA Clippers turned out to be a one-sided dismantling, when it was expected to be a close exchange or a showdown of Die.
The Denver Nuggets showed what true team basketball was, who entirely owned the series’ decider, pushing the La Clippers into a 120-101 victory, winning a fierce seven-game duel, and eventually advanced to the Western Conference semi-finals.
Despite Nikola Djokic’s quiet 16-point output, the Nuggets won with a successful collective effort as five other Denver players scored more than 15 points led by Aaron Gordon’s 22.
Christian Brown scored 21 points, while Russell Westbrook took another epic X-factor performance from the bench to enjoy his final laugh with his former team who traded him almost a year ago with 16 points, five boards, five assists and five steals.
Kawhi Leonard did everything he could with just 22 points in a 6-13 shooting, but James Harden was the main subject of LA.
After a performance in the major game 6, fans dropped a low play of 7 points in a 2-8 shooting, so there was a lot to say his loss for was the most important, but he had 13 assists.
In the blink of an eye, the Clippers realize they’re going home rather than continuing their pursuit of an NBA title.
And apparently, Ty Lue hadn’t imagined an exit as he had already thought about facing the Oklahoma City Thunder before Game 7.
On a postgame press, Clip’s head coach expressed his thoughts and said he wasn’t annoyed by his players.
“I haven’t really thought about the offseason yet. To be honest, I was thinking about OKC. That’s something I had in mind, but it didn’t work that way,” confessed Lou.
“It’s frustrating to lose, of course, but if that makes sense, I’m not frustrated with the guys in the locker room. It’s just the loss that makes me mad.
“Even so, I’m really proud of what they’ve brought all year round. We’ll see what happens next year.”
He is proud that his team has proven the doubters wrong by joining the NBA playoffs and securing 50 regular season wins, but Lue is only disappointed in how their year ended.
“I thought we put together a really strong run. It was huge to get 18 out of 21 to get to this position,” Lou said.
“As we’ve said all year round, it was sticking together and staying locked up until we reached this point. We’re proud of everyone in that locker room for what we can achieve, winning 50 games and staying united.
“I hate seeing it end like this in Game 7. It’s really a shame.”