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With the Los Angeles Lakers thumping of the Houston Rockets last night, three of the four conference finals teams are set. The Los Angeles Clippers could become the fourth team this afternoon if they can regroup from blowing a 16-point lead in game 5 and beat the Denver Nuggets in game 6.
The Clippers have outplayed the Nuggets for most of the series and had so dominated the Nuggets in the first half of game five that TNT’s studio personality Charles Barkley guaranteed a 20-point victory. Then Paul Millsap got into the Fountain of Youth water and scored 14 points in the third quarter.
The Clippers played with a decided lack of urgency as Denver overcame a 16-point deficit to force a game 6. They’ll want to close out the series today to get some rest before matching up with Lebron James, Anthony Davis and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals (which will probably begin Wednesday, if the Clippers win today).
They’ll need to continue controlling Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, who have been significantly less efficient offensively during this series than was their norm this season.
- Game 6: Los Angeles Clippers (3-2) vs. Denver Nuggets — 1 p.m., ESPN