Denver Nuggets Crush Los Angeles Clippers

What had the makings of a pivotal Western Conference clash was anything but on Thursday night. The top-seeded Denver Nuggets utterly dismantled a Los Angeles Clippers team that started Kawhi Leonard and Paul George 122-91, and it wasn't even as close as that score suggests.

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— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) January 6, 2023

The Nuggets took a first-quarter 32-15 lead, extended it to 66-32 at the half, and even took it all the way to 102-59 at the end of the third quarter. George and Leonard hardly even showed up, combining for 9 points on a miserable 3-16 from the field. George went to the bench after 13 minutes, and Leonard followed after 18 minutes.

The Nuggets played such a complete and stifling game that their stars didn't even get a chance to post big numbers. Nikiloa Jokic was efficient as a scorer and a distributor, scoring 12 points on eight field goal attempts while adding six rebounds and nine assists. Jamal Murray hit 7-10 from the field for a game-high 18 points. The Nuggets spread the wealth; no one was on the court long enough to compile the numbers you might expect to see in a beatdown of this magnitude.

At 25-13, the Nuggets are tied for the best record in the Western Conference, and Jokic finds himself square in the middle of the MVP race yet again with his 25.2 points on 61.4% from the field, 10.7 rebounds, and 9.4 assists per game. Somehow, some way, he may be having his best season yet. If the Nuggets can hold onto their Western Conference lead, there may be no denying him come voting season.

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