The Denver Nuggets rode a balanced scoring attack and a dominant second- and third-quarter performance to a blowout Game 7 win, 120-101 over the Los Angeles Clippers Saturday night at Ball Arena.
Aaron Gordon led the way with 22 points for Denver as six players finished in double figures: Gordon, Christian Braun with 21, Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic and Russell Westbrook each with 16 and Michael Porter Jr. with 15.
Jokic put up his 16 points despite missing his first five shots of the game. He added 10 rebounds and 8 assists in the contest.
Down 5 after the first quarter, the Nuggets would outscore Los Angeles by 32 points (72-40) over the next 24 minutes of game action to go up by 27 entering the fourth.
Nuggets up by 30 and the bench takes over. An absolute clinic by Denver tonight 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/peixPw1DuW
— Bradey King (@BradeyKing) May 4, 2025
Denver led by 30 with 5:30 to play. LA would trim the lead in what amounted to garbage time.
Kawhi Leonard led the way for Los Angeles with 22. The Clippers struggled to get the long ball working, shooting just 8-of-27 from beyond the arc.
The series win for Denver earns the Nuggets a date with the Oklahoma City Thunder, the league's top team in the regular season which outscored the Memphis Grizzlies by 78 points en route to a first-round sweep.
Denver Nuggets vs. Oklahoma City Thunder playoffs schedule
Game times in Mountain Time
• Game 1: Nuggets @ Thunder | Mon. May 5, 7:30 p.m.
• Game 2: Nuggets @ Thunder | Wed. May 7, 7:30 p.m.
• Game 3: Thunder @ Nuggets | Fri. May 9, 8 p.m.
• Game 4: Thunder @ Nuggets | Sun. May 11, 1:30 p.m. on Denver7
• Game 5: Nuggets @ Thunder | TBD*
• Game 6: Thunder @ Nuggets | TBD*
• Game 7: Nuggets @ Thunder | TBD*
* if necessary
