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INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Clippers shut down the Denver Nuggets to win Game 3 117-83 on Thursday night. Los Angeles won their first ever playoff game in the Intuit Dome. Los Angeles is leads the series 2-1 over the Denver Nuggets with the next matchup taking place against nice again at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood on Saturday afternoon.
Here are some takeaways from the Clippers win over the Nuggets:
Starting out with a bang
The Clippers were playing their first ever playoff game inside of the Intuit Dome and they did not let Clipper Nation down.
The energy in the building was like no other game in the Intuit Dome this season.
The Wall and Clipper fans were truly the sixth man on the floor in this game. It was so loud in the arena at times that you can barely hear yourself speak.
The Clipper players had a little extra get up in them from the jump with the energy flowing from their fans.
The players didn’t disappoint with their play and the fans didn’t either.
At the moment, the Intuit Dome may be the most beautiful place to watch a live basketball game and when the building was like tonight it may be the best home-court in the NBA playoffs.
Defense, defense, defense
The Clippers are at their best when their defense is at its best and tonight they were.
Feeding off that energy from the fans. Los Angeles was flying around defensively and making it tough on the Nuggets.
Denver came into the game averaging 107 points per game after the first two games in Denver. They scored a season-low 83 points tonight in the loss.
The Clippers forced Denver into shooting just 40% from the field and 26.9% from 3. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray scored 23 points apiece but Los Angeles made it a point of taking everyone else away and they did.
Los Angeles were 22-0 when allowing under 100 points in a game this season and keep their undefeated play going.
The Clippers may have found something on the defensive end and it could lead to a huge advantage the rest of this series.
Nothing like a Clip party
Los Angeles used a complete team effort to dismantle the Nuggets.
Six Clippers scored in double figures led by Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and Norman Powell who all scored at least 20 points.
In the second quarter, Los Angeles went on a 26-4 run to give them a big lead over Denver and they never looked back.after only leading by seven after one the Clippers went into the half up 65-47.
In Game 2, it was all about the play of Leonard but tonight was a complete team play that put Los Angeles over the top.
The Clippers will look to go up 3-1 on Saturday and if the entire team continues to feed off the energy of its crowd look out Nuggets’ fans.
