Denver Led by 15. The Third Quarter Erased All of It.
A strong start at the Clippers disappeared in one lopsided quarter, and the lineup left closing the game explained why the final score was no fluke.
Denver led by as many as 15 points before the Clippers answered with a quarter the Nuggets could not match, turning the night into a 122-110 loss. The five players on the floor in the final five minutes were all reserves, with Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and the rest of the regular rotation already on the bench.
The Quarter That Decided It
Denver and the Clippers were tied after one quarter, 24-24, and the Nuggets still trailed by just three points at halftime, 58-55. Then the third quarter decided it: the Clippers outscored Denver 38-26 to push the score to 96-81, a gap the Nuggets never closed. Los Angeles' biggest lead reached 16 points; Denver's own 15-point lead, built on an early 13-0 run, was long gone by then.
Grading the Night
Trevon Brazile scored 22 points on 8 of 10 shooting and 3 of 4 from deep in 25 minutes off the bench, but finished a team-worst minus-21, scoring and defending pulling in opposite directions all night. Jamal Murray was the most efficient regular, 14 points on 6 of 8 shooting in only 17 minutes, plus-4. Aaron Gordon posted the best mark on the roster, plus-6 in 14 minutes, despite making just 3 of 8 shots himself.
Who Was Left Closing
By the final five minutes, Denver's floor was Bryce Hopkins, Cam Whitmore, DaRon Holmes II, Ryan Nembhard and Trevon Brazile, not one regular starter among them. Whitmore matched Brazile's minus-21 across 24 minutes despite his own 17 points on 7 of 13 shooting. A bench that outscored the starters could still put the ball in the basket; it could not hold a lead once Denver's regulars sat down.
Before It Counts
This was Denver's third preseason game and its first loss, dropping the Nuggets to 2-1 ahead of a trip to the Lakers on Oct. 16. The regular-season opener at Oklahoma City follows on Oct. 22. Adelman has two tune-ups left to settle which combinations travel into a season built around a 31-year-old Jokic, with little room left to keep sorting it out once games start to count.
What was the final score of the Nuggets-Clippers preseason game?
The Clippers won 122-110 on Oct. 14, after Denver had led by as many as 15 points.
Who led the Nuggets in scoring in the loss to the Clippers?
Trevon Brazile led Denver with 22 points off the bench, shooting 8 of 10 from the field and 3 of 4 from three.
