The Los Angeles Clippers have come a long way. Once the laughingstock of the NBA, they are on national TV for the second straight night as they welcome the Denver Nuggets in Thursday’s best game.
This is a rematch of the Clippers’ 109-105 victory on Sunday. This time, the Nuggets will have back speedster Ty Lawson to run with the Clippers’ star guard trio of Chris Paul, ex-Nugget Chauncey Billups and Mo Williams.
It will also be the first time Timofey Mozgov faces Blake Griffin after his jaw-dropping dunk over OKC’s Kendrick Perkins on Monday – strongly reminiscent of Griffin’s dunk that literally cleared Mozgov as a member of the New York Knicks.
After two straight losses, the Nuggets (14-7) look to get back on track against the Clippers (13-6), whom the Nuggets trail by percentage points for the second seed in the West.
Thursday’s game starts a tough stretch for Denver, beginning its second back-to-back-to-back of the season that finishes up with that ‘other’ LA team and a trip to Portland.
The Nuggets have lost three straight to the Clippers – their longest active slide against any team – but may get a tired bunch as the Clippers survived a thrilling 107-105 win over the Jazz on Wednesday that ended a nine-year drought in Salt Lake City.
Winners of four straight games, the Clippers have been relying on more than just SportsCenter dunks. They shot 14-of-30 from the arc against the Nuggets on Sunday and followed with a 13-of-25 performance in a win over Oklahoma City on Monday.
LA’s current 3-point percentage (37.1) ranks ninth in the NBA.
Clippers forward Caron Butler (sore lower back) is a game time decision.