The Clippers returned home from a four-game trip with a 2-2 record, and for all of the hard work it took to earn those results, they had to face one of the NBA’s best talents in Denver’s otherworldly center Nikola Jokic.
So, the challenge for coach Tyronn Lue on Sunday night and his team’s stingy defense was figuring out a way to deal with Jokic, who entered the game averaging a triple-double with 29.7 points per game (fourth best in the league), 13.1 rebounds (first in the league) and 10.6 assists (second best in the league).
The Clippers could not stop Jokic from delivering yet another triple-double, but L.A. withstood the MVP’s dominance to pull out a 126-122 win over Denver behind the all-around play from James Harden and the return of Norman Powell and the offense he brought with him.
For Harden, who had 39 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, it was a night for him to reach an NBA milestone. By going six-for-15 from three-point range, Harden has 3,004 made threes over his career to become just the second player in NBA history to have more than 3,000 three-pointers made. Golden State’s Stephen Curry (3,810) has the most in league history.
To make it an even better night at Intuit Dome, it was Harden’s two free throws with 8.6 seconds left that sealed the deal for the Clippers and allowed them to beat the Nuggets for the second time this season.
After being out almost two weeks in missing six games with a left hamstring injury, Powell had 28 points.
In many ways, it was just another typical night for Jokic, who had 28 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists.
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Clippers backup point guard Kevin Porter Jr. was out with a sprained ankle. Lue said “it could be” when asked if Porter could be out for a while. “I know he’s out tonight. We’ll know more tomorrow once we do some testing.” Porter averages 8.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists over 18.7 minutes per game… Lue was asked that when the season started did the Clippers expect Kawhi Leonard to miss the first 22 games of the season with a right knee injury. “No, I didn’t expect that,” Lue said.