Clippers clears 25-point deficit, stuns Nuggets – Orange County Register

LOS ANGELES – Clippers coach Tyronn Lue just said ahead of Tuesday’s inevitable low-score thriller, the biggest thing he’s learned about his boys during this half-way through the season. , that they can cope with adversity: “When you’re going through tough times, it’s nice to see who the character is in person and we’ve done a great job trying to contain it. ”

After a disappointing, frostbite first half on Tuesday night, the Clippers scored the lowest 28 points of the NBA season. They fell to a 25-point gap against the Denver Nuggets with seven minutes left in the third round. And, yes, not as marked as usual.

And you know what, they handled it, winning 87-85 in what Lue calls a “throw back” win that he jokingly “puts basketball back 50 years”.

The 25-point comeback win is tied to the Clippers’ biggest games – including post-season – since the 1997-98 season and is one of only three times this season that a team has recovered. from such a large deficit.

Reggie Jackson, most notably, had a verifiable setback as he pitted against each other three times in a row to give the Clippers a 76-75 lead with the remaining score at 5:40.

His fourth consecutive hit was Jokic’s trick shot – just Jackson’s third hit this season. The pitch that severed Denver’s lead to 79-78 and turned Jackson’s poor 1 to 9 start into an excuse for the grand final, was chanted by 15,077 fans at Crypto.com Arena. his name as they had in the Clippers’ run to the Western Conference Finals last season.

“The game was bad for me early on, most of the game, just ugly,” Jackson said. “…it’s hard. It’s hard to gain confidence in yourself for a long time there.”

But he said his teammates and the fans within reach continue to support him: “They know the game will give me a chance to play a number of times.”

And that, he said, made all the difference: “This isn’t me – this is this whole building, this whole organization, I’m just the one getting some footage. This is everyone, put that battery in my back and everyone gives me the confidence I am today.”

Jackson took the shots in the Clippers’ win (21-21) with a massive surge in the third quarter.

After the Clippers shot 12 44 shots (27.3%) from the pitch and 1 14 from three points in the first half, Lue asked them in the dressing room: “Why are we so indecisive? ”

And so they attack – in the end. Only after digging a hole 59-34 with 7:04 remaining in the third quarter.

Then the Clippers went small and trailed the Nuggets (20-19) by 14 points with a squad of Eric Bledsoe (who had 11 points, 9 assists and finished with 28 points in the box), Amir Coffey (who had high 18 points, seven assists and four steals), Terance Mann (13 points), Marcus Morris Sr. (12) and Nicolas Batum (six points) – none of them taller than 6-foot-9. Then, starting the fourth quarter, Serge Ibaka replaced Batum and helped the Clippers cut their 66-55 deficit to 66-64 with 9:10 remaining.

“Defense saved us because offense, some nights, won’t go your way,” said Batum, who has 3 pointers with 1:47 to the left following Coffey’s 3 pointer, an incident. The combo pushed the Clippers into its lead night: 86-81.

“It happens in the NBA, can’t take shots, nobody can make it happen, but the defense will be there.”

While Aaron Gordon scored 13 of his 30 points in the fourth inning as he and Jokic tried to fend off the Clippers, their teammates only racked up 3-16 after halftime as the Clippers overcame Denver, 59-44 in the second half, holding Nuggets to shoot 16 for 37, including 2 for 17 from a 3-point range.

Despite the Clippers’ efforts, Jokic finished with 21 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists – his ninth straight double and the 15th time in 16 games he hit the 20-point mark. But when he missed by 3 with 2.5 seconds left and Gordon was unable to continue, the Clippers’ comeback stood.

It was the Nuggets’ lowest-scoring game of the season and the lowest-scored by the Clippers this year.

The Clippers are without Luke Kennard, who missed his sixth game in the protocols – and Justise Winslow, who missed the second. Plus: No Kawhi Leonard (ACL), Paul George (elbow), Isaiah Hartenstein (ankle) or Jason Preston (leg).

LA’s first-half total is the fewest in the first half since the Clippers scored 27 points in a 51-point loss to Dallas last season. But that’s not the fewest first-half points in league history – that record belongs to the 1999 Clippers, who collected just 19 points at half-time against the Lakers.

Starting center Ivica Zubac played only the first five minutes, in which he scored two points, judged three fouls and hit the ball in the head twice.

Jackson was 1 for 9 and 0 for 3 from the 3-point range – and was deducted 14 points from the worst team – after 17 minutes of the first half.