Denver Nuggets did not win the NBA Cup in December, but the tournament gave them the chance to give Los Angeles Clippers a chance to provide home field advantage for the first round of playoffs.
Denver won the extra game planned among the teams after both were eliminated-Nuggets finished the normal season against Clippers instead of 1-2. Both teams finished 50-32 and Nuggets won the seed number 4 due to a better conference record.
Teams will open their seven -game series in Denver in the afternoon on Saturday.
Los Angeles, one of the hottest teams entering the season, won 18 of the eight and the last 21 in a row to climb from the game and 5 seeds.
Clippers was 20-17 after losing Nuggets on January 8, the last meeting between the teams, but largely finished the 32-15 season due to the return of Kawhi Leonard. Two times the NBA finals MVP missed the first 34 games with the right knee injury and received an average of 21.5 points in 37 games.
James Harden, who directed Los Angeles to score (22.8 points) to score (22.8 points) and assists (8.7).
“We found ways to win.” He said. “No matter who’s night, we just put that man forward, played defensively and competed and played together.”
Harden and Leonard will attract a lot of attention, but Denver was forced to stop Norman Powell. 27.8 points against Nuggets this year in four games, six more than the season average.
Denver locked the fourth seed to put an end to the normal season. Nuggets fired Aries Michael Malone and General Manager Calvin Booth with three games and was elected as his assistant David Adelman Temporary Head Coach. After losing four games, he directed them to three straight victory.
“I think the locker room is in a really healthy place right now, Ad Adelman said on Friday. “When you go too long, sometimes … you pass through complications.
Denver is capable of passing Clippers starting with Nikola Jokic, perennial MVP candidate. The Serbian helped to become the first center and third player for a three -fold average for a season of 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists. NBA is the first player in these categories in the history of these categories.
Jokic, the series will have to fight the NBA defender Ivica Zubac.
A key for the progression of Nuggets is high production and health than the rest of beginners. Jamal Murray scored a match with 21.4 points, missed six matches with a right Hamstring injury at the end of the season, but returned for the last two matches.
Aaron Gordon played only 51 matches due to the right calf injury, but at the end of the season he said heavy minutes. Gordon will probably be the primary advocate in Leonard, while Christian Braun will be tasked with stopping.
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