Basketball. NBA: Denver crushes the Clippers in Game 7 and will face Oklahoma City
The 2023 champion Denver Nuggets crushed the Los Angeles Clippers 120-101 in Game 7 of the first round of the NBA playoffs on Saturday in Colorado.
At the end of a Game 7 that was much less closely contested than the rest of the series, Nikola Jokic's Nuggets eliminated the Clippers and Frenchman Nicolas Batum. Photo David Zalubowski/Sipa
The Denver Nuggets will have the immense challenge of facing the Oklahoma City Thunder, the best team of the regular season , in the conference semifinals, offering a tantalizing duel between the two favorites for the MVP award, Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Clippers suffered another disappointment with this third consecutive elimination in the first round of the playoffs, marking another failure for this team built around stars James Harden and Kawhi Leonard. The Angelenos started well in the first quarter, particularly on defense, containing Nikola Jokic, who failed to make a basket in the first 12 minutes.
The Nuggets collective is thereThe Nuggets accelerated late in the second quarter to lead 58-47 at halftime, before rolling out and humiliating the visitors, the gap growing to 35 points. Jokic still scored 16 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and distributed 8 assists, with Aaron Gordon (22 points) and Christian Braun (21 points) helping him.
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Opposite, Leonard finished with 22 points but James Harden completely misfired in shooting (7 points at 2 of 8, 13 assists), the Clippers showing themselves clumsy from distance (8 of 27 at 29.6%) and dominated in rebounding (54 against 45). The French Nicolas Batum finished the game with 3 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks.
Le Républicain Lorrain
