NBA: Clippers Forced Game 7 After Winning Over Nuggets

On Tuesday night at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, the Los Angeles Clippers kept their season alive with a hard-fought win over the Denver Nuggets. The team led it with a 111–105 lead in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series.

Clippers’ victory tied the series at 3–3 and sets up a decisive Game 7 in Denver on Saturday. The winner will move on to face the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the next round.

James Harden led the way with 28 points, eight assists, and six rebounds, bouncing back from a quiet Game 5. He looked noticeably more aggressive throughout the night and knocked down a big three-pointer late in the game to help secure the win.

“It was win or go home, so there were opportunities to be aggressive, and I took them,” Harden said. “One more game… We didn’t want to go home. We’ve got one more game left.”

Kawhi Leonard also had a strong performance with 27 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. Norman Powell added a big boost off the bench, scoring 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting. His clutch three-pointer with 1:47 left came during a tense stretch when Denver was cutting into the lead—it was the Clippers’ only field goal in the final 5:57 of the game.

Defensively, the Clippers turned things up in the second half, especially against Nuggets star Nikola Jokić. While Jokić finished with 25 points, he was limited to just five points on 2-of-9 shooting after halftime. He went scoreless for an 11-minute stretch in the third quarter and managed only two rebounds and four assists in the second half.

With 24 seconds left, Ivica Zubac blocked Jokić’s layup attempt. It is a key moment that helped seal the win. Zubac, along with Nicolas Batum, anchored the Clippers’ interior defense. This makes life difficult for the reigning MVP. When Jokić was on the floor, the Nuggets outscored the Clippers by just one point—a testament to how well Los Angeles managed him.

The Clippers created separation in the third quarter with a 12–0 run that pushed their lead into double digits. They led by as many as 15 points midway through the fourth, but Denver made a late push. An 11–2 run brought the score to 107–101, putting the pressure back on the Clippers. Powell’s late three-pointer gave them the breathing room they needed. Russell Westbrook struggled down the stretch, missing two critical layups on back-to-back possessions.

Still, the Clippers held firm, with head coach Tyronn Lue praising the team’s resilience: “I give our guys credit for just staying with it… They don’t get deflated, and we did a good job… I told the guys after the game, it’s about being a team and whatever it takes to win. Those guys totally understood it.”

One of the unsung heroes of the night was Nicolas Batum. The French basketball player played a series-high 34 minutes and had a team-best +11 while on the court. He started the second half for the first time in the series, and his impact on both ends, especially defensively, was evident.

Batum’s presence on the perimeter and his versatility gave the Clippers a boost, despite averaging just four points per game during the regular season. There’s speculation he could start Game 7 in place of Kris Dunn. Lue also revealed that he personally called players on their off day to gauge their mindset and keep them focused—something he doesn’t usually do.

This will be the first Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Playoffs. For Denver, it’s a familiar—and possibly uncomfortable—position. The Nuggets have lost four of their last five chances to close out a playoff series over the past two seasons. Last year, they blew a 3–2 lead to Minnesota in the second round. They haven’t won a Game 7 since beating the Clippers in the 2020 NBA bubble.

Nuggets guard Jamal Murray acknowledged the Clippers’ urgency, saying, “They were quicker to the punch… They played with a lot more desperation because their backs were against the wall, and you’ve got to give them credit. The whole game, they brought it.”

For Harden and the Clippers, Saturday’s Game 7 represents a chance to change the narrative. This is true, especially for Harden, who has faced criticism for past playoff exits. It’s all or nothing now. One more game to decide who moves on and who goes home.