James Harden scores 28, and the Clippers force Game 7 with a gritty 111-105 win over the Nuggets

By Canadian Press on May 1, 2025.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — James Harden had 28 points and eight assists in an outstanding bounce-back performance, Kawhi Leonard added 27 points and the Los Angeles Clippers forced a seventh game in their first-round NBA playoff series with a 111-105 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 6 on Thursday night.

Norman Powell scored 24 points for the Clippers, who rebounded from back-to-back losses with an impressive effort at new Intuit Dome. Los Angeles took control in the second half while playing tenacious defense on Nikola Jokic, who scored 20 of his 25 points in the first half.

Game 7 is Saturday in Denver.

Jamal Murray scored 21 points for the Nuggets, who lost a potential series-clinching playoff game for the third time in four tries over the past two seasons since their 2023 championship run. Denver also blew a 3-2 series lead over Minnesota in the second round last season.

The Nuggets haven’t won a Game 7 since 2020, when they ousted the Clippers from the conference semifinals in the Florida bubble.

The Clippers were pushed to this comeback win by the 35-year-old Harden, who played aggressively and craftily after receiving criticism for a passive effort in Game 5. Leonard also stepped up, with the two-time NBA champion adding 10 rebounds and five assists in an assertive outing.

Ivica Zubac and Nicolas Batum teamed up for a surprisingly effective defensive effort on the typically unguardable Jokic. The three-time MVP was held scoreless for 11 minutes in the third quarter and went only 2 for 9 in the second half.

Los Angeles led by 15 with less than six minutes to play, but Denver made an 11-2 run to trim the Clippers’ lead to 107-101 before Powell buried a 3-pointer with 1:47 left.

Powell’s clutch bucket was Los Angeles’ only field goal in the final 5:57, but the Clips hung on with defense. Russell Westbrook missed a layup under pressure and had another layup blocked on consecutive possessions in the final minutes, and Zubac blocked a layup attempt by Jokic with 24 seconds left.

After falling into a 2-1 series hole and then blowing a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter of Game 4, the Nuggets still won at Intuit Dome five days ago on Aaron Gordon’s incredible dunk at the buzzer. Denver rode that momentum to a comfortable win in Game 5 with 43 points from Murray.

After the Clippers folded down the stretch Tuesday, coach Tyronn Lue took the rare step of checking in with his players by phone on their off day, saying he “took a lot of temperatures” to make sure they were mentally ready to fight for their playoff lives.

The Clippers team that stormed into the playoffs with eight straight wins and 18 in 21 heeded Lue’s calls in Game 6.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

Greg Beacham, The Associated Press