How did the Nuggets Smash Clippers on Thursday?
February 4th, 2012
After the 112-91 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday in L.A., Clippers’ star Blake Griffin said, ““It rattled me a little bit..It was a good foul, a hard foul.” Timofey Mozgov finally got a chance to give back some of the pounding he has been taking from some of the NBA’s high flying dunking machines, like Blake Griffin. Mozgov has long been posterized by a long list of NBA players, but tonight he finally got his payback in the third quarter. The Los Angeles Clippers let Danilo Gallinari drain five of five three pointers on the night, good for 21 points. Off the bench, Rudy Fernandez and Al Harrington each drained a pair of triples to further bury the Clippers. The Clips’ lone bright spot was Foye and Mo Williams off the bench, again, scoring 17 and 13 points respectively. The Clippers starting five looked disjointed and out of sync, especially Chauncey Billups who may have had trouble guarding some of the bigger Nuggets. DeAndre Jordan once again only got two touches, scoring only 2 points, but racking in 9 boards and a crazy 5 blocked shots. On the year, he is contending with the Washington Wizard’s Javale McGee for the most blocks. Aside from letting the Nuggets shoot 53%, what went wrong for the Clippers?
At home, the Clippers were a one point favorite and had a distinct advantage being the home favorite. On the year, they were 10-2 at home and 2-0 went being the home favorite on the year. However, this year Denver has been absurdly hot as an underdog. In six games as an underdog, Denver is 5-1. Against Pacific division opponents, they were also 4-1. This year is an anomaly so far in the matchup between these two teams because over the past three years, the Clippers have won all 3 matchups and an exciting 21 of their last 30 against the Nuggets (going back to 1996). Therefore, last night’s game was certainly an oddity. But it should be taken as a testament to the Nuggets fortitude on the season and how much they have progressed since last season and especially since the departure of Carmelo Anthony.
Last Sunday the two teams also met but in Denver. The result was somewhat different. There the Clippers won 109-105 behind Chauncey Billups’ 32 points. On Thursday, Chauncey struggled for any number of reasons, which may include 1.) age; 2.) too many games in a week; 3.) Billups’ role in the offense. On the season, he is averaging 15 points, 4 assists, and 2 threes a game on 35% shooting. On Wednesday, at Utah, Billups also shot poorly, going 1 for 8 for 8 points. On Sunday’s win at Denver, Billups shot 11 for 20 for 32 points. In fact, in the Clippers’ last four losses, Chauncey is only shooting 12 for 42, good for 28%. In the last four wins, he has shot 21 for 47, which is nearly 45%. Clearly, as Billups goes, so go the Clippers. Mozgov’s awesome block on Blake Griffin may be the highlight of the night, but Billups’ struggles are a deeper, more concerning problem.
Great Clippers Tickets are available for all home games at the STAPLES Center. We carry Clippers Tickets in all price ranges and all sections. We stock
Clippers Vs Lakers Tickets, as well as Clippers Vs Trail Blazers and Clippers Vs Thunder Tickets.
