🃏 🏔️ Nuggets Ignite Demolish Clippers in Game 7, Set Sights on OKC

The Denver Nuggets were left for dead just three weeks ago. After a four-game skid and playoff hopes in peril, ownership dropped a bombshell: Head Coach Michael Malone and GM Calvin Booth were fired with three games left in the regular season.

The message was loud and clear - change, or go home.

🎯 It worked.

On Saturday night, under interim coach David Adelman, the defending champs steamrolled the Clippers 120–101 in Game 7, turning the postseason’s most competitive series into a statement blowout.

🔥 “He Got the Result He Was Looking For.”

Nikola Jokic didn’t sugarcoat it.
“I think the owner wanted to change the energy — and probably he did,” the MVP said postgame. “He got the result he was looking for.”

While Jokic had an off night by his standards (16 pts, 10 reb, 8 ast, 5 fouls), Denver didn’t need him to dominate. They suffocated LA with team-wide execution and elite depth.

💥 Supporting Cast Steps Up

Six Nuggets scored in double figures. The highlight reel was stuffed with hustle, heat checks, and hammer dunks:

• Aaron Gordon led all scorers with 22 points, including a posterizing two-handed reverse dunk that sent Ball Arena into orbit.

• Russell Westbrook delivered sweet revenge against his former team:

  • 16 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast, 5 stl, and a blistering 42% from three this series — the best 3PT% of his playoff career.

  • He was left open. He torched them anyway.

• Christian Braun, Denver’s X-factor, opened the game with 9 early points and hounded Harden defensively.

• Michael Porter Jr., playing through a sprained shoulder, hit 44.1% from deep for the series.

📉 Clippers Collapse

The Clippers had won 18 of their last 21 heading into the playoffs. But when the moment got loud, LA went quiet.

• Kawhi Leonard: 22 pts

• James Harden: 2-8 FG, just two free throw attempts

• Clippers shot 8-for-27 from deep

The pressure seemed to boil over - especially for Ivica Zubac, who had been strong all series. In Game 7:

• 32 mins | 10 pts | 14 reb | 50% FG | 3 TO | 3 PF

Zubac held the paint in the first half but struggled to contain Gordon and was targeted by Denver’s cutting, swarming offense. He had a solid stat line but was overmatched once the floodgates opened in the third quarter.

🧠 Championship DNA > Star Power

Denver pulled off an 18-0 run midway through the third. LA had no answer. Jokic and Murray both struggled, yet the Nuggets’ physical zone defense and relentless hustle junked up the game, leaving LA’s rhythm in ruins.

It was reminiscent of the 2023 title run — not pretty, but poised and powerful.

🧱 Ivica Zubac: Strong Series, Brutal Ending

The Croatian center was a force most of the series, but got overrun late.

Game 7:

• 32 min | 10 pts | 14 reb | 3 TO | 3 PF | 50% FG

Series Averages (2024–25):

• 36.6 MIN | 17.4 PTS | 10.1 REB | 65.9% FG

• 2.3 AST | 1.0 STL | 0.7 BLK | 2.7 PF | 1.6 TO

• One of LA's most consistent contributors - but outmatched when Denver went small, fast, and ruthless.

🎯 Bogdan Bogdanović: Quiet Series

The Serbian shooter came off the bench, delivering a small punch in Game 7:

Game 7:

• 18 MIN | 12 PTS | 3 REB | 1 AST | 55.6% FG | 20% 3PT | 100% FT

Series Averages (2024–25):

• 16.7 MIN | 6.4 PTS | 2.9 REB | 2.1 AST | 36.4% FG | 29.2% 3PT | 85.7% FT

Flashes of firepower — but not enough volume or impact to sway the series.

🛡️ Next Up: Oklahoma City Thunder

The road only gets steeper. Denver now faces a rested, 68-win OKC squad that swept Memphis and was built to stop Jokic:

• Isaiah Hartenstein gives OKC a physical post defender.

• Chet Holmgren gets to roam.

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Caruso, and Jalen Williams will hunt Jamal Murray.

• OKC’s defense is long, mean, and made to force turnovers.

Jokic averages vs OKC this season:
⛹️‍♂️ 24.5 pts | 15.8 reb | 11.5 ast | 52.6% FG

But this series isn’t just about schemes. It’s about legacies.

The MVP votes are in, but the real battle starts now. After torching the Clippers in Game 7, Jokic and the Nuggets face off against MVP favourite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Jokic? Unbothered. “Last thing on our minds,” he said. Still, the clash is electric: SGA led the league in scoring and win shares, but Jokic just delivered one of the greatest statistical seasons ever—29.6 PPG, a triple-double average, and the 4th-best PER in NBA history.

Legacy meets firepower Monday night.
This is the toughest challenge of the Jokic–Murray era.

🍷 “Enjoy Tonight. Red Wine, or Whatever You Like.”

Denver may be thin. They may be flawed. But they’re alive, dangerous, and more motivated than ever.

📅 Game 1 vs Thunder: Monday night.

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