Nuggets win an unexpected clash against the Clippers

The Denver Nuggets have arguably pulled off the most unexpected win of the season by defeating the Los Angeles Clippers. The Nuggets defeated the Clippers away from home in an incredible fashion thanks to a historic performance from Reggie Jackson. The Nuggets coach Michael Malone was mighty impressed by the show his team put on at the Crypto.com Arena.

Michael Malone

After the win, head coach, Malone said, “Tonight was special.” The special win allowed the Nuggets to climb up to the third spot in the Western Conference. Their side is now on a two-game winning streak. Malone was all praises for the heroes of the night, Reggie Jackson and DeAndre Jordan (DJ). 

Reggie Jackson

Jackson scored 35 points, provided 13 assists and even had five rebounds. Jackson played for 40 minutes and was very efficient converting 15 of his 19 shots. He became just the fourth player since 2020 to score 35 points, provide at least 10 assists and have five rebounds with a shooting accuracy of at least 75 per cent. Talking about Jackson, Malone said, “Reggie deserves all the credit. He was in our gym every day this summer. He was there. Sweating with all those young guys. Imparting his wisdom from his years of experience in this league. Getting comfortable with the coaching staff, our terminology, our philosophy.” Malone further emphasized how Jackson’s performance is crucial, especially after Jamal Murray’s injury. The head coach said,  “Now, when Jamal Murray goes down with injury, Reggie is out there just kind of running the show and doing it at a very high level.”

DeAndre Jordan

Before coming into this game, one could argue that DJ was undercooked. Jordan had played only 24 minutes prior to this match. Against the Clippers, DJ looked anything but undercooked as the 35-year-old scored 21 points, provided five assists, had 13 rebounds and made two steals and one block. He had seven dunks in his 21 points and paired nicely with Jackson in the pick-and-roll. While talking about DJ, Malone said, “DJ is a dynamic roller, even at this stage of his career.” The head coach also talked about DJ and Jackson’s partnership and said, “Obviously, from beginning to end, the combination of Reggie and DeAndre in pick-and-roll created a lot of problems for them and gave us a lot of success.”

How did the Nuggets defeat the Clippers?

The Clippers set the tone early in the game and led the first quarter. At the end of the first quarter, the score read 28-25 in favour of the Clippers. The visitors bounced back nicely winning the second quarter by a 33-28 margin. In the third quarter, the Clippers thrashed the Nuggets by a 32-19 margin and it seemed like the visitors had started to miss their star players, Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon. In the fourth and final quarter, the Nuggets scored 36 points while conceding just 16 and winning their second match in a row by a nine-point margin. (113-104)