The LA Clippers and Denver Nuggets will meet one final time in Tuesday night's Game 7.
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00:00 The LA Clippers blew another substantial lead on Sunday afternoon following 111-98 to Denver
00:04 Nuggets after coming up with as many as 19 points early in the second half.
00:09 Without getting too far into it, the loss was nearly identical to the one LA suffered
00:13 in Game 5.
00:14 The Clippers built up a big lead, got comfortable with where they were at, and waited far too
00:17 long to respond once Denver began fighting back.
00:20 This time, though, was an even more egregious example of complacency.
00:23 The LA led by as many as 16 points in Game 5 and trailed by as many as 8 late in the
00:28 fourth quarter, whereas in Game 6, the Clippers' 19-point advantage was turned into a 16-point
00:34 deficit by game's end.
00:35 At one point, the Nuggets rattled off 17 executive points, while Clippers struggled to get a
00:40 single quality look on offense.
00:42 There was no stopping the bleeding once it began.
00:44 And it wasn't just Denver knocking out every shot it put up.
00:47 It was Clippers settling for contested jumpers and going right from the plan that had worked
00:50 so well in the first half of each of the last two games.
00:54 Now after leading 3-1 in the series, it's come down to a Game 7.
00:57 The winner will advance to the West Carbondale Finals for a meeting with the Los Angeles
01:00 Lakers, and the loser will be sent home.
01:02 Looking at some key storylines for tonight's game, for LA, we're wondering who earns all
01:07 the minutes.
01:08 One of the main strengths of this Clippers team at the beginning of the season was its
01:11 depth.
01:12 The first four guys at the bench could realistically start for another competitive team in the
01:15 NBA.
01:16 But in the postseason, that's been a bit of a different story, and it's time the rotation
01:20 tightens up a little bit.
01:22 Fortunately, Dr. Rivas agrees with that.
01:24 He said, "You don't worry about minutes as much in a Game 7 on Monday.
01:28 You can extend minutes.
01:29 Now extending minutes can be dangerous because some guys just can't handle them, and so if
01:32 they can't handle them, you can't do them."
01:35 So looking at that, you have to wonder who'd be a candidate to have his minutes cut, or
01:38 really, who should have the minutes cut, and Montrezl Harrell is one player there for sure.
01:43 The Clippers have been abysmal on both ends of the floor when he's on the floor with Nikolai
01:47 Jokic in this series, and Denver has completely taken advantage of that.
01:51 In the fourth quarter of each of the last two contests, the Nuggets have gone to an
01:55 almost all-offense lineup, and it's worked wonders for them.
01:59 Now, Harrell isn't necessarily unplayable in this series, at least not in my opinion.
02:03 The Clippers have done fine when he's on the floor with Mason Plumlee, for example, but
02:07 LA can't afford to spend another minute with both Harrell and Jokic on the floor together.
02:10 It's become a nightmare of a matchup.
02:13 Other players who should have the minutes cut include Richie Jackson and Landry Schamett,
02:16 who offer very little on defense and the same main skill on offense, which is people when
02:21 shooting.
02:22 Now, Schamett is the better player of the two, and if a situation calls for it, he can
02:25 be one that gets called on to try to get something going on offense if need be.
02:30 But as far as who should have the minutes bumped up, besides the starting rotation,
02:33 all of them deserve it.
02:35 Obviously, Kawhi, PG, they've been terrific.
02:37 Marcus Moore should have more minutes in this game.
02:39 Patrick Beverley has been under restriction, but he should see more minutes as well, and
02:43 the same goes for Reece Zubats.
02:46 Michael Green has had a very solid series and is easily LA's best rebounder off the
02:50 bench.
02:51 Given his ability to space the floor and feast on the glass, he should get some run at center
02:54 when he beats Zubats on the bench.
02:57 The key, really, though, in this game would be avoiding the Harrell-Jokic minutes, and
03:00 if LA can make that happen, there's no reason why they can't win Game 7.
03:06 For Denver, the main takeaway, the main storyline here is another big fourth quarter.
03:10 Does that await for the Nuggets in this game?
03:12 Over the last two games, Denver Nuggets have been most dominant in the fourth quarter.
03:17 They're averaging 36 points in the frame to LA's 22, and their shooting has been spectacular
03:22 down the stretch.
03:23 It's one of the main reasons why the last two second halves, given the way they have,
03:26 along with LA's offense, just completely collapsed.
03:28 In the fourth quarter of Game 5, Denver shot 11 of 18 on field goals and 7 of 9 from three-point
03:35 range.
03:36 Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Jeremy Grant were 6 of 6 from deep in the frame.
03:40 Again, that's in Game 5.
03:42 In the fourth quarter of Game 6, Denver shot 13 of 21 on field goals and, once again, 7
03:47 of 9 from deep.
03:48 Jokic and Gary Harris were 5 of 5 from three in that frame, while Michael Porter Jr. and
03:53 Torrey Craig sank the other two.
03:56 Plenty of Denver's attempts from three have been wide-open looks as well, which simply
03:59 can't happen.
04:01 Miscommunications on defense have been a big issue in each of the last two fourth quarters.
04:04 And what's to be expected when Patrick Beverley fouls out early in the frame of Game 6, LA
04:09 is far too good a team to let that happen, especially defensively.
04:13 That said, Denver deserves a lot of credit here as well.
04:15 They've been relentless on offense in this series and they've played extremely well
04:18 at the backs against the wall over these last two games.
04:21 As far as the prediction goes for tonight's game, regardless of who wins Game 7, this
04:26 one's going to be a slugfest.
04:27 Expect a low-scoring, high-intensity contest that's decided by 10 points or less.
04:31 If Clippers are going to win, that could be down to a few specific adjustments.
04:35 Doc Rivers said it best, "This team has the formula to win this series.
04:39 We saw that in their three wins so far in this series.
04:42 They've been terrific in each of those games."
04:44 That much is obvious.
04:45 It just depends on how closely everybody follows the game plan and how well they execute on
04:49 the stretch of this fourth quarter in Game 7.
04:51 Does LA play a full 48 minutes and stick to the instructions, or does Denver overwhelm
04:56 them again and make them overcomplicate things on both ends of the floor?
05:00 It's a coin toss, but we have to go with LA on this one, a tight one.
05:04 For that, we have Clippers 96, Nuggets 90.
05:08 You can watch the next game on ESPN.
05:10 The Clippers and Nuggets hit the floor for Game 7 on Tuesday, September 15th at 9 p.m.
05:15 Eastern time.