LOS ANGELES — James Harden's 28 points, 27 from Kawhi Leonard and 24 from Norman Powell powered the Los Angeles over the Denver Nuggets Thursday night to force a Game 7 in their first-round playoff series.
Denver shot a salty 52.4% from the field – to LA’s 50% – but surrendered 23 points off of 14 turnovers.
The turning point came in the third quarter, when Denver went nearly five game minutes without a point and Los Angeles went on a 12-0 run in that span. LA led 68-66 with 8:11 to play in the third, but mounted an 80-66 lead over the next 4 minutes and 15 seconds.
Powell scored 11 points in the third quarter alone. Harden did the heavy lifting in the first half for the Clippers, scoring 21 points, including 17 in the second quarter.
Down by double-digits for much of the final 15 minutes, Denver would pull to within 5 in the final minute of the game, but the comeback bid fell short.
Nikola Jokic had 25 points and Jamal Murray added 21 for Denver. Aaron Gordon had 19.
The series comes back to Denver for Game 7 on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. MST.
