All easy for the Clippers in game-3, dominant since the two-ball in the match against the Nuggets, conducted without too much trouble already with the partial from 26-12 which opens the first quarter. A groove that Denver never quite manages to mend, more tired, packed and with fewer impact alternatives to be able to exploit during the game.
The protagonist of the Clippers success is Kawhi Leonard, who touches the triple double and closes with 30 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists, four steals, two blocks – the best in all the statistical categories of the Californian team. There are five other players in double figures among the Los Angeles, with 27 combined points coming off the bench for the Harrell-Williams duo.
Complicated game, especially in attack, for the Nuggets, who never manage to find rhythm and finish shooting with less than 40% of the team from the field. Too little to worry a battleship like the Clippers, despite the 26 points, 11 rebounds and six assists of a convincing Nikola Jokic. The Serbian is the only one to find the bottom of his retina continuously, with Jamal Murray scoring 18 points with 6/15 shooting – almost all of which arrived in the final, when Denver tried in vain to make contact.
The Clippers are thus only one game away from a historic qualification to the Conference final – a goal never reached by the Los Angeles team: the 49 seasons of activity of the franchise without having conquered the penultimate series of the playoffs is by far the negative record. longest running of the four major US sports. A trend that the Clippers definitely hope to reverse in two days.