On Monday, April 21st, 2025, the Denver Nuggets took the floor again at Ball Arena, looking to build on their thrilling Game 1 overtime win. But this time, the Los Angeles Clippers made the clutch plays down the stretch, sparked by a Kawhi Leonard shooting masterclass, to help them get a 105-102 win to tie the first-round series at 1-1.

The game went back and forth all night with 18 lead changes and it was a game that the Nuggets could have won due to Nikola Jokic who went off offensively getting another triple double scoring 26 points, 10 assists, 12 rebounds.

However, Jokic did have some mistakes with his free throw game and with turnovers as Jokic missed 4 free throws and had 7 turnovers. These mistakes also happened defensively all game as Jokic played distant defence on Norman Powell leaving him space to have a 3 in the clutch which in the end was the difference on why The Nuggets lost the game.

Although Jokic played amazing offensively and without him, we would have looked way worse out there we need to hold each member of this team accountable for why we are not 2-0 up right now because this was definitely a game the Nuggets could have won if not for multiple factors.

Some of these other factors were Michael Porter Jr’s big mistake at the end of the game, where The Nuggets got the defensive rebound after the Clippers missed with not that much time on the clock and Michael Porter Jr ended up rushing the play and going into traffic with 2 Clippers defenders, where he ended up getting pressured to turn the ball over giving the Clippers the ball. This is where they ended up scoring on that Norman Powell three.

Porter Jr, after that play was taken out of the game with some shoulder discomfort because of the way he fell, also wanted a foul on the play, but his mistake was definitely what fans will remember as the moment that cost The Nuggets to split this series, and it made fans forget about the pretty decent game he had up to that point scoring 15 points and having 15 rebounds.

The next person who played a factor in the ending dramatics was Aaron Gordon who was wide open in the paint where he got a perfect pass with no defence and The Nuggets were up at this point. However, Gordon used too much force when trying to get this dunk, as he hit the top of the backboard with force, missing what should have been a free 2 points. Now, If Gordon scored those points who knows how the game would have turned out.

Another person, who could be to blame for the loss was Christian Braun as it was his second game in a row where he did not play well with this game only scoring 5 points, and his last performance people only gave a pass because of what he did in overtime. However, this time he was missing a lot of key shots and did not look like himself, getting silly technical fouls.

One of the bright spots of this game for the Nuggets was Jamal Murray who had a solid game with 23 points, however in my opinion defensively he was also slacking with his man marking, and his pick-and-roll with Jokic did not look as effective as it could have been.

Also to credit The Clippers doing well to battle back from a rough first quarter, playing well in the second holding the Nuggets to 21 while they scored 30, and it was Kawhi Leonard who led the charge, scoring 39 points going 15/19 only missing 4 shots proving why when he is healthy he is one of the top players in the NBA.

Kawhi was not the only star for the Clippers, Ivica Zubac also played amazingly contributing with another double-double scoring 16 points with 12 rebounds, and he played amazing defensively. Also, James Harden continued being a thorn in the side with 18 points.

However, it was the Nuggets game to lose they looked like the better team in this game and towards the end they had many chances to seal the deal. These little mistakes cost them a chance to go up 2-0 and make Clippers fans have to win both games at home. But, it was not destined to happen as the Clippers ended up splitting the series at home proving that this series might be one of the closest matchups in the playoffs, with each team having a player that matches up against the opposing team well, which is what should be expected from the 4 and 5 match-up.

With the series tied 1-1, the Nuggets head to Los Angeles a little on edge, hoping that Kawhi’s stellar shooting doesn’t continue for Game 3 on Thursday night at Intuit Dome. Where Denver will also look to regroup and regain control of the series, by trying to take away from the home-court advantage the Clippers have with the wall and get better with free throws because The Clippers cause the lowest free-throw shooting to their opponents.

Hopefully, The Nuggets will use the extra days, to work on these mistakes and hopefully, Michael Porter Jr will be ready to make up for his mistake and his injury won’t be too bad, because he will be a key player who can help The Nuggets win the series.

These will be some hard road games, that we need to win, and it will be a challenge that the Nuggets need to overcome in order to go far in this year’s playoffs.