The Denver Nuggets have 11 straight victories at home with a 121-100 win against the Los Angeles Clippers Thursday Night.
The Nuggets (28-12) made light work of its opposition after suffering a 22-point defeat, its worst of the season, on the Clippers’ floor on Dec. 22. The triumph gives Denver a 2-1 advantage in the season series with the fourth and final matchup of 2018-19 between the teams set for Feb. 24 at Pepsi Center.
“I texted each and everyone of our players yesterday and reminded them about that game,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said, referring to his team’s last outing against the Clippers. “It was definitely on their minds tonight. We got that game back, which is great to see.
Thursday, the Nuggets jumped all over the Clippers building a double-digit lead after the first quarter. Malik Beasley, Mason Plumlee, Jamal Murray, Torrey Craig and Monte Morris went a combined 12 of 12 from the field in the game’s first 12 minutes as the Denver built a 37-25 lead and never looked back.
Center Nikola Jokić led the way for Denver recorded his second-straight triple-double, making it five on the season. Despite playing just 28 minutes, he recorded 18 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists and also blocked a pair of shots for good measure.
Murray led the Nuggets, scoring a game-high 23 points on 10-16 shooting while adding six rebounds and two assists. Plumlee had a season-high 17 points to go along with 12 rebounds followed by Beasley (15), Craig (14) and Morris (14).
“He is a big part of us being where we’re at,” Malone said of Plumlee. “He started for a while with Nikola. Now, he’s back to coming off the bench. And whatever you ask Mason Plumlee to do, he does and he does it well.”
The Clippers were led by Lou Williams’ 19 points. Danilo Gallinari and Tobias Harris, who had 18 points apiece and Montrezl Harrell (16) as they dropped to 24-16 on the season.
The Nuggets out-rebounded the Clippers 53-38 and won the turnover battle 12-9.
The Denver Nuggets travel to face the Phoenix Suns Saturday at 7 p.m. MT. That game will be aired live on Altitude TV and streamed on AltitudeNOW.