Watch Denver Nuggets @ LA Clippers live on Sky Sports Arena in the early hours of Wednesday morning (2am), live on Sky Sports Arena
Wednesday 16 September 2020 05:59, UK
The heavily-favoured LA Clippers could see their title aspirations disappear as they face the Denver Nuggets in Game 7, but they are not thinking that way.
The new-look Clippers, the team that entered the NBA bubble considered a favourite to win it all, might want to avoid a deep dive into their franchise history ahead of their series-deciding, potentially season-defining Game 7 against the Nuggets.
The Clippers are now 0-7 all-time with a chance to clinch a berth in the Conference Finals on the line, the latest stumble coming on Sunday in a 111-96 Game 6 loss to Denver. It's the second straight game that the Clippers have lost in this series after leading by double-digits in the third quarter.
They surrendered a 15-point lead in their Game 5 loss and were ahead by 19 points in the fourth quarter on Sunday before the Nuggets finished rallied, outscoring the Clippers 64-35 in the second half, to force a Game 7 in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
A season-long trend of surrendering big leads hasn't gone away for the Clippers during these playoffs. Seven times this season they lost games when leading by 15 or more points, and that includes a first-round loss to the Dallas Mavericks when they led by 21.
Despite their second-half crumbling in each of the past two games of this series, Paul George is adamant that the Clippers are still in control of their own destiny in this series and ultimately this season.
"We know what we are up against," George said after his 33-point effort on Sunday. "We have the utmost respect for them as opponents, but I like our chances. I like our odds. I like what we have. Again, it's on us to finish this out."
The berth in the Western Conference Finals doesn't just come with historical significance for the Clippers. It's also an opportunity to square off against their Staples Center rivals the Los Angeles Lakers, who locked their spot down on night Saturday by trouncing the Houston Rockets in Game 5 of their conference semi-final series.
With their once-commanding 3-1 lead over the Nuggets vanishing, the Clippers will now face the scrutiny and questions that come with a potential collapse on the big stage.
"This group is staying together. " George said. "We are still in the driver's seat. It's not a panic mode. We have a Game 7."
When asked if they choked Game 6 away, two-time Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard didn't want to frame it that way.
"We just went cold. We went cold in that third quarter, that's it," he said. "We kept getting into the paint, passing the ball and got a little stagnant and just couldn't make shots."
He knows better than anyone what kind of pressure comes with a Game 7, having hit a shot at the buzzer last season to beat the Philadelphia 76ers in the conference semi-finals.
The Nuggets are the first team in playoff history to play in four straight Game 7s, adding even more intrigue to the winner-take-all showdown.
Leonard's message to his team-mates for Game 7 is simple.
"It's pressure every game," he said. "We have just got to leave it all out there on the floor. Make sure we are paying attention to detail, executing and communicating on the defensive end. That's all we can do, go out there and play hard and make sure we know the game plan."
Watch Denver Nuggets @ LA Clippers live on Sky Sports Arena in the early hours of Wednesday morning (2am), live on Sky Sports Arena
