Director shock hard → Locker room infighting → PO 1 win. Denver was strong, though. Jokichi's triple-double performance. Western PO's best dark horse LA Clippers overpower extended bloodshed
Apr 20, 2025
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The Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers, who have emerged as a powerful dark horse, 112-110 after extra-time struggles in the first round of the NBA Western Conference playoffs in 2024-2025 at Denver Ball Arena in Colorado on the 20th (Korea time).
For Denver, Nikola Jokic scored 29 points, 9 rebounds, and 12 assists, while Aaron Gordon scored 25 points and Jamal Murray scored 21. Westbrook had 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists. He made only one mistake.
Kawhi Leonard, who fully improved his condition at the end of the season, scored 22 points, six rebounds, James Harden scored 32 points, and Ibacha Zubachi scored 21 points.
The Western first-round series between Denver and the Los Angeles Clippers is the most notable along with the Los Angeles Lakers-Minnesota Timberwolves.
The power itself is boiling. Denver is in a slump at the end of the season. However, a non-spending center called Jokic is holding up. The main lineups such as Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. are also solid. He also won the final two years ago.
The Los Angeles Clippers emerged as the best dark horse at the end of the season. The Los Angeles Clippers, which maintained a solid balance of offense and defense centered on the existing James Harden, Ibacha Zubaci and Norman Powell, have the power to not be pushed back against any team as ace Leonard perfectly improves his condition after a long injury. He also showed an equal performance in the game against Oklahoma City, which is ranked first in the West.
a tight race all the time.
The result came at the end of the fourth quarter. Jokic's second free throw in a row. The Los Angeles Clippers turned the tables again with Zubacic's under-the-goal shot.
The Los Angeles Clippers defended Westbrook, who had a poor shooting sense, on the day. However, immediately Westbrook punished with a three-point shot. A valuable cannon burst at the end of the match.
However, the Los Angeles Clippers are tied on James Harden's floater. Westbrook made a mistake and went into extra time.
Denver's teammates actively utilized Jokic's gravity in overtime. Aaron Gordon scored as he grabbed a series of offensive rebounds, and Christian Brown hit a decisive three-point game.
In particular, Aaron Gordon grabbed the decisive offensive rebound in the final attack of extra time, a 108-107 lead. Harden blocked Westbrook's layup shot breakthrough with a block, but Gordon caught it and got a foul free throw, and in the end, he made it all successful, effectively deciding the game.
It was a different playoff than expected. Denver's dependence on Jokic has been maximized due to the difficulty of defense at the end of the season and injuries to key players. In addition, he replaced manager Mike Malone, who led Denver to the championship and recorded the most wins in Denver's history. Therefore, the prevailing expectation was that there is a high possibility that he will not be able to avoid struggling in the Western playoffs this season.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
