The Los Angeles Clippers lastly had a season the place they had been wholesome and taking part in properly going into the playoffs, seemingly with an opportunity to make a deep run and compete for a championship. Sadly for Tyronn Lue and firm, the No. 5 seed within the west nonetheless crashed out within the first spherical with an embarrassing 120-101 loss in Recreation 7 towards the Denver Nuggets on Saturday.
The Clippers appeared to have all the momentum coming into Recreation 7 after a really spectacular win again at residence in Recreation 6, however that each one shortly evaporated on Saturday. The Nuggets took an 11-point lead at halftime earlier than exploding on a 24-4 run within the third quarter to blow the sport open. By the midway level of the fourth, Lue had already pulled the plug and emptied his bench.
As he has develop into identified to do, James Harden had one other underwhelming sport within the largest sport of his season. After the loss, Harden left the world with out speaking to the media, in response to Joey Linn of Sports activities Illustrated.
“No postgame media for James Harden once more. Simply left the world,” Linn reported on X, previously Twitter. “He didn’t speak after the final three Clippers’ losses.”
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Harden performed 35 minutes within the loss, however managed simply seven factors on 2-for-8 taking pictures. He did have 13 assists and was in a position to set his teammates up properly within the first half, however his lack of a scoring punch finally proved to be an excessive amount of for the Clippers to beat.
The Nuggets threw lots of defensive seems at Harden in Recreation 7, displaying him a number of our bodies within the first half earlier than bogging down the Los Angeles offense within the second half with a zone changeup on that finish.
The Nuggets will now transfer on to face the top-seeded Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder within the subsequent spherical whereas the Clippers are left taking a look at what went mistaken in one other postseason. Prior to now, well being has been the first wrongdoer, but it surely’s a extra difficult dilemma in 2025. Los Angeles had the momentum and had Kawhi Leonard and Ivica Zubac taking part in nice basketball. Nonetheless, Harden allow them to down once more in one other huge sport on the finish of a sequence.