After winning their first preseason game against the Utah Jazz Friday night, the Los Angeles Clippers lost to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night in Las Vegas. The Clippers fall to 1-4 in the preseason, while the Nuggets improve to 2-4.

Jamal Crawford got the Clippers going early in the game, scoring 11 points in the first five and a half minutes of the first quarter. Crawford got the start in place of J.J. Redick who was given the night off. Despite Crawford’s early outburst, the quarter ended in a tie, 21-21.

In the second period, the Nuggets bench outplayed the Clippers bench, as Denver built a 16-point lead midway through the quarter. The Nuggets were playing up-tempo and were finding easy points in transition. However, Doc Rivers saw that the game was getting out of hand and inserted his starters, who immediately brought the team back and tied the game at 51 going into halftime.

Though, the Nuggets came out of halftime with a sense of urgency and climbed to an early seven-point lead in the third quarter. From that point of the game, Denver was able to hang on to their lead to finish off the Clippers.

Unfortunately for Denver, Ty Lawson left this game with a hamstring injury in the first half and did not return. Randy Foye, who totaled 14 points, received the starting point guard role in the second half.

With terrific execution and team play, the Nuggets earned the victory with a final score of 104-93.

Kenneth Faried, who is proving to be the best player on his team, put in 19 points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes of play on 7-of-13 shooting. Arron Afflalo followed suit with 16 points on an efficient 5-of-7 shooting. Danilo Gallinari, who has made it back from an ACL injury, chipped in with 12 points.

Joe Ingles received the starting small forward role tonight for the Clippers in place of Chris Douglas-Roberts, who was out with an ankle sprain. Ingles put in just three points, all from the costless throw line, in 19 minutes of play. Blake Griffin, who was in foul trouble in the second half, led the Clippers with 27 points and five rebounds. Jamal Crawford finished the night with 23 points. Chris Paul put up 13 points and nine assists. DeAndre Jordan followed a nine and 17 night with eight points and 12 rebounds. Spencer Hawes scored 24 points against the Jazz, but only had six points and 5 rebounds on 1-of-4 shooting in this one.

The Clippers did not shoot too well from the field, hitting only 37 percent of their shots. Their offense seemed a bit stagnant at times, but they did miss some good looks from the field. 

The Los Angeles Clippers will head to the Bay Area to play the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, October 21. That game will be televised on TNT. The Denver Nuggets will play the Portland Trail Blazers in their next game on Tuesday as well. 

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About the author
Vahan Shakhpazyan
Vahan Shakhpazyan loves the NBA with a passion and has been an avid follower for 18 years. He is a UCR graduate with a BA degree in Creative Writing. The man behind the Facebook page NBA updates.