Instead of folding, the Nuggets fought.
From the outset of Game 2 against the Los Angeles Clippers, it was clear Denver wanted to dictate the terms of Saturday night’s bout. It wanted to set the tone, and it wanted to be the aggressor.
It began on defense where the Nuggets flew around, swatted shots and protected a lead all the way to the buzzer. The Nuggets seized Game 2, 110–101, evening their Western Conference semifinal series at 1–1. Game 3 is Monday night.
“We were a noticeably different team tonight than we were in Game 1,” said Nuggets coach Michael Malone. “Our defense, our activity, and the fact that we were willing to help each other.”
After a sizzling first half from Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, both stars were bottled up in the second half as the Nuggets relied on their defense to win. Jokic finished with 26 points and 18 rebounds, while Murray added 27. They only had nine combined points in the second half.
Murray said Denver, which got dominated in Game 1, had much more energy Saturday night.
“Couple days (of rest) does the trick,” Murray said.
But Murray wouldn’t concede much more than that about what changed.
“It’s just because the ball went in in Game 2 and not Game 1,” he added. “We got the same looks we wanted.”
The difference, though, was Denver’s stout defense, which limited the Clippers to 45 points in the second half.
The Clippers, who trailed by as much as 23, got it to within five points with 8:36 left in the fourth. From there, Gary Harris sunk back-to-back clutch 3‑pointers, which gave the Nuggets some breathing room. He finished with 13 points and four 3‑pointers, in addition to playing relentless defense.
Clippers’ star Kawhi Leonard was held to 13 points on 4‑of-17 from the field and he had four turnovers. Paul George was 7‑of-19 for 22 points.
The Nuggets led by 16 at the half and the Clippers shaved four points off that lead in the third quarter. Jerami Grant continued to hound Leonard, forcing the two-time champion into a handful of turnovers and bad looks. On the other end, Paul Millsap added a sorely-needed scoring punch as most of the offense bogged down. Even rookie Michael Porter Jr. had some bright moments on the offensive glass to help the Nuggets maintain an 89–77 lead going into the fourth quarter.
After their Game 7 win over Utah, the Nuggets got back to their hotel after midnight. They had about a day and a half to mentally recover from the Jazz and physically prepare for Los Angeles, which Murray said led to their exhaustion.
That turnaround led to about 18 minutes of disciplined basketball in Game 1 before the wheels fell off. Not that Malone was going use that as an excuse for the showing.
“Let’s be honest,” Malone said. “Houston was in the same boat (one day’s rest) and they came out and played great (Friday) night. They found a way to find that energy. There’s always readily available excuses that you can use.”
And rather than make a significant lineup change, Malone was content with what he saw.
“It’s also really important as a head coach, if you show signs of panic, I think it spreads to your team very, very quickly,” he said before the game. “Sometimes you have to stay the course. We looked at the film from Game 1. I don’t think it was anything schematic. It wasn’t game plan.”
In the first half, the Nuggets looked like a team that was tired of being called soft. On offense, their screens found bodies. On defense, they barely budged when the Clippers tried to get to their spot.
It was a stunning about-face for a team that got smacked in Game 1.
The Nuggets carried a 72–56 lead into halftime after shooting 57% from the field and holding Leonard and George to a combined eight field goals. Grant and Harris deserved the lion’s share of the credit for being physical and forcing tough shots on Los Angeles’ two stars.
Murray and Jokic were equally good in the first half. Murray was aggressive and hunted his driving lanes, while Jokic drained all four 3‑pointers he took in the first half. He also snagged nine rebounds, nearly clinching a first-half double-double.
Together, they combined for 44 points over the first two quarters.