Nuggets down Lakers in game 3


May 5th, 2012

NUGGETS 99, LAKERS 84: Ty Lawson scored 25 points and host Denver built a 24-point first-half lead en route to beating Los Angeles.

JaVale McGee came off the bench to supply 16 points and 15 rebounds as the Nuggets cut the Lakers’ lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

Game 4 is scheduled for Sunday night in Denver.

Kenneth Faried also had a double-double with 12 points and 15 boards as the Nuggets pulled away after the Los Angeles Lakers had cut the deficit to four points in the third quarter.

Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant scored 22 points and Andrew Bynum added all 18 of his points in the second half to go along with 12 rebounds.

Denver’s bench outscored the Los Angeles reserves 39-9 and helped stretch the lead back to 11 points early in the fourth quarter.

Bynum, held scoreless in the first half, finally came alive in the third quarter. The behemoth center scored 12 points, including a pair of three-point plays, as the Lakers cut a 16-point halftime lead to four before Denver opened it to 72-65 entering the fourth.

With Lawson setting a frenetic early pace, Denver blitzed the Lakers with a 20-2 run, including the final 11 points of the opening quarter to take a 30-14 lead.

Corey Brewer and Al Harrington buried 3-pointers as the Nuggets scored the first eight points of the second quarter to complete a 19-0 spurt for a 38-14 lead.

The Lakers finally started to slow the tempo and responded with a 14-2 run to cut the 24-point deficit in half before the Nuggets nudged it back to 55-39 at halftime.

McGee had eight points and nine rebounds while Faried grabbed 10 boards in the first half to help Denver control the glass 31-18.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Harrington suffered a fractured nose after he was elbowed by Bynum in the final minute of the third quarter. … Bryant’s 7-for-23 performance continued his shooting struggles in Denver. He was 13 of 51 in two regular-season games at the Pepsi Center. … Danilo Gallinari’s basket with 8:07 to play in the first quarter put the Nuggets ahead 8-7 and represented Denver’s first lead of the series. … McGee had his third double-double since he was acquired at the trade deadline. Two have come against the Lakers

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By Chris Cabrera
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Nuggets 112 Clippers 91 Staples Center


February 3rd, 2012

Danilo Gallinari scored 16 of his 21 points in an 11:09 span during the second and third quarters as the visiting Denver Nuggets outscored the Los Angeles Clippers by 34 points over the final three periods en route to a 112-91 victory Thursday.

Ty Lawson scored 18 points and Arron Afflalo added 15 for the Nuggets (15-7), who snapped a two-game losing streak and turned the tables on Los Angeles’ 109-105 victory at Denver on Sunday.

Blake Griffin scored 18 points and Chris Paul had 15 points and nine assists for the Clippers (13-7), who had their four-game winning streak snapped.

Denver outscored Los Angeles 51-24 in a span covering the second quarter and the first 4:13 of the third. Gallinari hit consecutive 3-pointers to open the second half as the Nuggets went on a 16-5 run to take a 70-56 lead.

A pair of 3-pointers by Al Harrington finished a 32-16 third quarter and put Denver ahead 86-67.

The Nuggets led by as many as 26 in the fourth quarter.

Griffin scored eight points and Paul had seven as the Clippers shot 14 for 23 from the field and closed the first quarter with a 14-2 run for a 32-19 lead.

The Nuggets chipped away and fast-break buckets by Lawson and Nene capped a 17-7 run which gave Denver a 49-47 advantage with 2:41 left in the first half.

After a dunk and jumper by Griffin, Denver took the lead for good on a Gallinari 3-pointer, and two free throws by Lawson made it 54-51 at the half.

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Clippers Vs Nuggets at the Pepsi Center Sun Jan 29th Wrap Up


January 30th, 2012

Clippers Vs Nuggets at the Pepsi Center Sun Jan 29th Wrap Up

The postgame L.A. Clippers locker room had an old Nuggets feel to it. The Los Angeles Clippers face a tough test Sunday night as they hit the road to face the red-hot Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. The Nuggets have won six straight games and own the second best record in the Western Conference at 14-5. The Clippers, meanwhile, have lost nine straight games in Denver.

There, in the center, was Chauncey Billups, always the man of the moment in the Mile High City. Around him were all of the familiar media faces peppering him with questions about another night, another big shot, another big victory.

Only, this time, he left his old team with all the questions while he provided answers Sunday night.
In his first game back since being traded, Billups was every bit Mr. Big Shot as he and Chris Paul took over in the fourth quarter to outlast the Nuggets 109-105 at the Pepsi Center.

The Nuggets, who had been riding high on a six-game winning streak, saw that snapped in excruciating fashion. Down the stretch they
Nuggets center Timofey Mozgov dunks in the first quarter. More photos. (John Leyba, The Denver Post) simply didn’t make enough plays to get the job done. The Denver Nuggets were outscored 15-6 to end the game.

“They made a lot of shots,” said Nuggets coach George Karl of Billups and Paul, who combined to score 19 of the Clippers’ 32 points in the fourth. “I think it was pretty good defense. I’m pretty sure the video will show that. We can’t do much more.”

The fourth quarter was a wild, back-and-forth affair, each team making one effective play after another on the offensive end.

A Nene bucket gave the Nuggets a 99-94 lead before the Clippers answered with five straight points, punctuated by a Billups 3-pointer with 3:01 left to tie it up. Billups then put the Clippers ahead 102-99 with a three-point play.

Paul rolled in a free-throw line jumper with 1:26 and L.A. led 104-101. But two Nene buckets — both dunks — got the Nuggets in front 105-104.

Two Paul free throws with 35.9 seconds left put the Clippers back on top 106-105. The Nuggets missed a layup on their ensuing possession and fouled DeAndre Jordan after the Clippers came away with the rebound. Jordan made 1-of-2 from the charity stripe with 23.4 seconds to extend L.A.’s lead to 107-105.

After a timeout, Nene was called for an offensive foul with 18.1 seconds remaining, which was the biggest blow to the Nuggets’ rally hopes. The Nuggets fouled Paul with 17.2, and he made both to push the Clippers’ lead to four. A failed Nuggets possession after that sealed the team’s fate.

“We kept it close, kept it close,” Billups said. “And Chris was big for us in the fourth quarter, made a couple of plays … and that’s how you’ve got to win on the road.”
Billups returned to Denver in style. He scored a season-high 32 points, nailing six 3-pointers in the process. The Clippers drained 14 3-pointers as a team, outscoring the Nuggets 42-18 from the arc.

They had a really good percentage from 3-point, Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari said. Chauncey ha an unbelievable game. They hit some tough shots and contested 3s.
It was a tough start in a tough stretch for the Nuggets. On Saturday afternoon, Karl gathered his team, lent perspective to their hot start and relayed a message of urgency about what they will face in the next 30 days.

You can still purchase Clippers Vs Thunder Tickets just either on the web or visit our office next to the Staples Center:
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Los Angeles Clippers at Denver – Game Preview


January 29th, 2012

Recent Games:

First meeting of the season. The teams split four games last season, with each winning on their home court.

 

  • November 5th, 2010 in Denver – Denver 111 – Clippers 94
  • December 3rd, 2010 in Denver – Denver 109 – Clippers 104
  • January 5th, 2011 in Los Angeles – Clippers 106 – Denver 93
  • March 5th, 2011 in Los Angeles – Clippers 100 – Denver 94

 

Summary:

The Clippers are 10-6 on the season. But of those 16 games, only five of them have been on the road (and one of those was in Los Angeles against the Lakers). Five road games is the fewest of any team in the NBA, and more importantly, the 28 they have yet to play is the most. So there’s that. The fact that the team is 1-4 in those five games is not good, but it’s not a huge concern, given the quality of the opponents in those losses. Unfortunately, that logic doesn’t bode well for tonight, against the 14-5 Nuggets, who are 7-2 in the mile high altitude. There is some good news though. The Clippers should be well rested for this game, coming off two days of rest. There is also reason to believe that the team will be hitting peak form at some point in the near future — they looked great in wins over the Heat and Lakers two weeks ago, before Chris was injured his hamstring. In the two games since his return, Paul has not shot well. Hopefully after a couple of games and two more days of practice, he’s getting the rust off and the team will start firing on all cylinders again. They looked great for a quarter against Memphis on Thursday, but even that was more about hot shooting than super shard execution. So the team’s best basketball is still ahead of them, but hopefully not too far away.

 

 

The Antagonist:

A year ago, the Nuggets starters featured Kenyon Martin, Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups, and J.R. Smith was the sixth man. Now Anthony is in New York with the New York Knicks, Billups is with the Clippers, Smith is in China and Martin is waiting until February 15th to be a free agent after signing with and then leaving a Chinese team. The Nuggets were built around Anthony for years, and while the made the playoffs in each of the seven seasons he was in Denver, they also lost in the first round in six of those seasons.

Losing streak in Denver. The Clippers haven’t won in Denver in five full seasons. The last time they won a regular season game there was in January of 2006. They also won a playoff game a few months later. But it’s been one empty trip to the Mile High City after another since then.

Hot team. In their last game the Clippers played a Grizzlies team that had won seven of eight coming in. The Nuggets have won six straight and eight of nine. The Clippers just can’t get a break in terms of opponents. Oh, and their next three games after this are against Oklahoma City, at Utah and against these Nuggets again. Sheesh.

Twice in a week. The Clippers and Nuggets face each other twice this week, tonight and then again on Thursday. The Clippers have two games in the interim, the Nuggets just one.

Balance. About that balance: the Denver Nuggets have six players averaging double figures, with the highest being Gallinari at less than 18 a game. In fact, they have 8 players averaging between 8 and 18. Philadelphia has eight players between 9 and 16. Hat tip to citizen d2s4ui1 for catching my mistake there.

Lawson hurting. Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson, their second leading scorer, missed Friday’s win against Toronto with a sprained left ankle. Lawson told Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post that he plans to play tonight.

Billups in Denver. Chauncey Billups will be playing in Denver tonight for the first time since being traded away as part of the Carmelo Anthony deal. Billups is a Colorado native, who played his college ball in Boulder and had wanted to retire as a Nugget. He’ll no doubt receive a very warm welcome upon his return to Denver, where he played four seasons in two different stints. Billups was part of the Denver team that went to the Western Conference finals, they’re deepest playoff run since the mid 80s.

Matchups. It’s hard to figure how the matchups will go tonight. For one thing, you never quite know how George Karl will distribute minutes among the 10 or 11 guys in his rotation. Nene will begin the game defending Blake Griffin, which could give Blake trouble. Caron Butler will need to take the very talented Gallinari as seriously as he would Kobe Bryant. Afflalo is a big guard who will be a handful for Billups, But the key matchup will be Lawson versus Chris Paul. CP3 probably needs to dominate that matchup for the Clippers to win tonight.

Not counting the NBA All Star Game break, they’ll get one more such break the entire remainder of the season, and that one comes in April, between games 63 and 64. Great news for fans who don’t like to wait too long between games. Bad news for tired players and coaches who need time to prep for opponents.

We stock Clippers Vs Nuggets Tickets for all games at the Staples Center and Pepsi Center.

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By Chris Cabrera
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