Game ID: 42400175
LA Clippers @ Denver Nuggets
Tuesday, April 29, 2025 at 10:00 PM ET
Ball Arena, Denver, CO
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
DEN 35 32 32 32 131LAC 23 36 24 32 115
DEN vs LAC ScoutingDEN vs LAC Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
DEN availability going into 4/19 · 5 days' restOUT Šarić missed 5 since 4/04, out tonight
BACK Murray back 4/11 after 6, 28 min since (76% of 37)
BACK Porter Jr. back 4/04 after 2, 35 min since (104% of 33)
BACK Strawther back 4/04 after 16, 8 min since (41% of 20)
BACK Nnaji back 4/13 after 3, 6 min since (63% of 10)
NEW Pickett 13 to 22 min over the last 5
DEN availability going into 4/21 · 1 day's restOUT Šarić missed 6 since 4/04, out tonight
BACK Murray back 4/11 after 6, 35 min since (94% of 37)
BACK Nnaji back 4/13 after 3, 6 min since (63% of 10)
NEW Gordon 30 to 36 min over the last 5
NEW Pickett 13 to 18 min over the last 5
DEN availability going into 4/24 · 2 days' restOUT Strawther missed 2 since 4/19, returns tonight: 11 min (55% of 20)
OUT Šarić missed 7 since 4/04, out tonight
OUT Nnaji missed 2 since 4/19, returns tonight: 5 min (45% of 10)
BACK Murray back 4/11 after 6, 37 min since (99% of 37)
NEW Gordon 30 to 37 min over the last 5
DEN availability going into 4/26 · 1 day's restOUT Šarić missed 8 since 4/04, out tonight
BACK Murray back 4/11 after 6, 37 min since (99% of 37)
BACK Strawther back 4/24 after 2, 11 min since (55% of 20)
BACK Nnaji back 4/13 after 3, 6 min since (54% of 10)
NEW Gordon 30 to 37 min over the last 5
DEN availability going into 4/29 · 2 days' restOUT Šarić missed 9 since 4/04, out tonight
BACK Strawther back 4/24 after 2, 11 min since (55% of 20)
BACK Nnaji back 4/13 after 3, 6 min since (54% of 10)
NEW Gordon 30 to 37 min over the last 5
DEN availability going into 5/01 · 1 day's restOUT Šarić missed 10 since 4/04, out tonight
BACK Strawther back 4/24 after 2, 6 min since (32% of 20)
BACK Nnaji back 4/24 after 2, 3 min since (32% of 10)
NEW Gordon 30 to 39 min over the last 5
DEN availability going into 5/03 · 1 day's restOUT Šarić missed 11 since 4/04, out tonight
BACK Strawther back 4/24 after 2, 6 min since (32% of 20)
BACK Nnaji back 4/24 after 2, 3 min since (32% of 10)
NEW Gordon 30 to 38 min over the last 5
DEN availability going into 5/05 · 1 day's restOUT Šarić missed 12 since 4/04, out tonight
BACK Strawther back 4/24 after 2, 5 min since (27% of 20)
BACK Nnaji back 4/24 after 2, 3 min since (28% of 10)
NEW Gordon 30 to 38 min over the last 5
DEN availability going into 5/07 · 1 day's restOUT Šarić missed 13 since 4/04, out tonight
NEW Murray 37 to 43 min over the last 5
NEW Braun 35 to 40 min over the last 5
NEW Gordon 30 to 39 min over the last 5
LAC availability going into 4/19 · 5 days' restOUT Batum missed 2 since 4/11, returns tonight: 24 min (132% of 18)
OUT Miller missed 2 since 4/11, out tonight
BACK Coffey back 4/13 after 7, 4 min since (16% of 24)
NEW Leonard 33 to 38 min over the last 4
LAC availability going into 4/21 · 1 day's restOUT Miller missed 3 since 4/11, out tonight
BACK Coffey back 4/13 after 7, 4 min since (16% of 24)
BACK Batum back 4/19 after 2, 24 min since (132% of 18)
NEW Harden 36 to 42 min over the last 5
NEW Zubac 33 to 38 min over the last 5
NEW Leonard 33 to 42 min over the last 4
NEW Powell 33 to 40 min over the last 4
NEW Dunn 24 to 29 min over the last 5
LAC availability going into 4/24 · 2 days' restOUT Coffey missed 2 since 4/19, out tonight
OUT Miller missed 4 since 4/11, returns tonight: 4 min (34% of 11)
BACK Batum back 4/19 after 2, 21 min since (116% of 18)
NEW Harden 36 to 42 min over the last 5
NEW Zubac 33 to 39 min over the last 5
NEW Leonard 33 to 42 min over the last 5
NEW Dunn 24 to 30 min over the last 5
LAC availability going into 4/26 · 1 day's restOUT Coffey missed 3 since 4/19, out tonight
BACK Batum back 4/19 after 2, 23 min since (126% of 18)
BACK Miller back 4/24 after 4, 4 min since (34% of 11)
NEW Harden 36 to 41 min over the last 5
NEW Zubac 33 to 38 min over the last 5
NEW Leonard 33 to 41 min over the last 5
LAC availability going into 4/29 · 2 days' restOUT Coffey missed 4 since 4/19, out tonight
BACK Batum back 4/19 after 2, 22 min since (121% of 18)
BACK Miller back 4/24 after 4, 4 min since (34% of 11)
NEW Harden 36 to 41 min over the last 5
NEW Zubac 33 to 39 min over the last 5
NEW Leonard 33 to 40 min over the last 5
LAC availability going into 5/01 · 1 day's restOUT Coffey missed 5 since 4/19, out tonight
BACK Batum back 4/19 after 2, 22 min since (121% of 18)
BACK Miller back 4/24 after 4, 3 min since (29% of 11)
NEW Zubac 33 to 38 min over the last 5
NEW Leonard 33 to 38 min over the last 5
LAC availability going into 5/03 · 1 day's restOUT Coffey missed 6 since 4/19, out tonight
BACK Miller back 4/24 after 4, 3 min since (29% of 11)
NEW Leonard 33 to 38 min over the last 5
NEW Batum 18 to 24 min over the last 5
I Know — the desk, before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Denver comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 105 a night and allowing 108, shooting 46 percent and 35 from three, 23 free throws a game; Jokić at 26 and Murray at 19 a game. 2 days' rest. The Clippers come in 3-2 over their last five, scoring 111 a night and allowing 103, shooting 49 percent and 40 from three, 18 free throws a game; Leonard at 28 and Harden at 25 a game. Without Coffey (4 straight). 2 days' rest.
So: The Clippers win, on the road, and the game turns on the arc, the Clippers at 40 percent from three to Denver's 35 and the line, where Denver takes 23 free throws a game to the Clippers' 18. Call it the Clippers 111, Denver 110, Denver keeping it close.
4/19 vs LAC 112-110 — DEN notes
DEN won 112-110 in 1 overtime. DEN shot 44% (41 of 94) to LAC's 50%, 9 of 27 from three, and went to the line 27 times to LAC's 16 — 21 points from the stripe to their 12. DEN turned it over 11 times to LAC's 20. Jokić led with 29 (12 of 24, 1 of 4 from three, 4 of 6 at the line); Gordon added 25, Murray 21. The hinge was Q2, 22-18: the deficit went from 8 to 4. DEN trailed 49-53 at the half and won the second half 63-57. Murray was the night's best plus/minus at +12.
4/21 vs LAC 102-105 — DEN notes
DEN lost 102-105. DEN shot 47% (37 of 79) to LAC's 48%, 14 of 32 from three, and went to the line 22 times to LAC's 12 — 14 points from the stripe to their 10. DEN turned it over 20 times to LAC's 11, and LAC turned those into 13 steals. The glass went 50-32 for them. Jokić led with 26 (8 of 16, 4 of 8 from three, 6 of 10 at the line); Murray added 23, Porter Jr. 15. Q1 was theirs, 31-25, but the other 3 periods went 80-71 against them. Westbrook's -7 in 23 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/24 @ LAC 83-117 — DEN notes
DEN lost 83-117. DEN shot 40% (31 of 77) to LAC's 48%, 7 of 26 from three, and got to the line 20 times to LAC's 28. DEN turned it over 16 times to LAC's 10. The glass went 38-48 against them. Jokić led with 23 (9 of 14, 2 of 3 from three); Murray added 23, Gordon 15. Q3 was theirs, 23-25, but the other 3 periods went 92-60 against them. Watson's -29 in 18 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/26 @ LAC 101-99 — DEN notes
DEN won 101-99. DEN shot 46% (40 of 87) to LAC's 44%, 10 of 29 from three. Jokić led with 36 (14 of 25, 3 of 6 from three, 5 of 6 at the line); Braun added 17, Porter Jr. 17. The hinge was Q3, 35-17: a lead of 2 became 20.
4/29 vs LAC 131-115 — DEN notes
DEN won 131-115. DEN shot 56% (48 of 86) to LAC's 52%, 17 of 33 from three. Murray led with 43 (17 of 26, 8 of 14 from three); Gordon added 23, Westbrook 21. The hinge was Q1, 35-23: from level to 12 ahead, and the lead reached 22. Porter Jr. was the night's best plus/minus at +34.
5/01 @ LAC — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
The Clippers come in 2-3 over their last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 106, shooting 49 percent and 39 from three, 20 free throws a game; Leonard at 25 and Zubac at 20 a game. Without Coffey (5 straight). One day's rest. Denver comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 106 a night and allowing 109, shooting 47 percent and 39 from three, 22 free throws a game; Jokić at 25 and Murray at 25 a game. One day's rest.
So: The Clippers win, and the game turns on the glass, where Denver has been plus-3 a night and the Clippers minus-3. Call it the Clippers 113, Denver 109, Denver keeping it close.
5/03 vs LAC — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Denver comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 104 a night and allowing 109, shooting 48 percent and 40 from three, 18 free throws a game; Jokić at 25 and Murray at 25 a game. One day's rest. The Clippers come in 3-2 over their last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 104, shooting 49 percent and 37 from three, 20 free throws a game; Leonard at 26 and Harden at 18 a game. Without Coffey (6 straight). One day's rest.
So: The Clippers win, on the road, and the game turns on the glass, where Denver has been plus-3 a night and the Clippers minus-3 and the turnovers, Denver giving it away 14 times a game to the Clippers' 9. Call it the Clippers 111, Denver 110, Denver keeping it close.
5/05 @ OKC — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
OKC comes in 5-0 over its last five, scoring 119 a night and allowing 100, shooting 45 percent and 29 from three, 25 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 28 and Jal. Williams at 23 a game. That is 5 straight wins. 8 days' rest. Denver comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 108 a night and allowing 109, shooting 50 percent and 39 from three, 18 free throws a game; Murray at 23 and Jokić at 23 a game. One day's rest.
So: OKC wins, and the game turns on the arc, Denver at 39 percent from three to OKC's 29 and the line, where OKC takes 25 free throws a game to Denver's 18. Call it OKC 117, Denver 108.
5/07 @ OKC — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
OKC comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 120 a night and allowing 105, shooting 45 percent and 32 from three, 25 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 29 and Jal. Williams at 22 a game. One day's rest. Denver comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 116 a night and allowing 109, shooting 50 percent and 39 from three, 20 free throws a game; Jokić at 26 and Murray at 23 a game. It has won the glass by 8 a night. One day's rest.
So: OKC wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Denver has been plus-8 a night and OKC minus-2 and the arc, Denver at 39 percent from three to OKC's 32. Call it OKC 118, Denver 110.
4/19 @ DEN 110-112 — LAC notes
LAC lost 110-112 in 1 overtime. LAC shot 50% (43 of 86) to DEN's 44%, 12 of 33 from three, and got to the line 16 times to DEN's 27. LAC turned it over 20 times to DEN's 11, and DEN turned those into 11 steals. Harden led with 32 (11 of 22, 4 of 9 from three, 6 of 6 at the line); Leonard added 22, Zubac 21. Q1 was theirs, 35-27, but the other 4 periods went 85-75 against them. They led by as many as 15.
4/21 @ DEN 105-102 — LAC notes
LAC won 105-102. LAC shot 48% (41 of 85) to DEN's 47%, 13 of 34 from three, and got to the line 12 times to DEN's 22. LAC turned it over 11 times to DEN's 20. The glass went 32-50 against them. Leonard led with 39 (15 of 19, 4 of 7 from three); Harden added 18, Zubac 16. The hinge was Q2, 30-21: LAC came in trailing by 6 and left it ahead by 3. Powell was the night's best plus/minus at +8.
4/24 vs DEN 117-83 — LAC notes
LAC won 117-83. LAC shot 48% (40 of 83) to DEN's 40%, 18 of 39 from three, and went to the line 28 times to DEN's 20 — 19 points from the stripe to their 14. LAC turned it over 10 times to DEN's 16. The glass went 48-38 for them. Leonard led with 21 (7 of 17, 3 of 6 from three); Harden added 20, Powell 20. The hinge was Q4, 27-13: a lead of 20 became 34. Harden was the night's best plus/minus at +25.
4/26 vs DEN 99-101 — LAC notes
LAC lost 99-101. LAC shot 44% (39 of 88) to DEN's 46%, 10 of 30 from three. Leonard led with 24 (10 of 22, 2 of 5 from three); Powell added 22, Zubac 19. Q4 was theirs, 34-16, the deficit cut from 20 to 2, but the other 3 periods went 85-65 against them. Dunn's -12 in 21 minutes was the worst on the floor.
4/29 @ DEN 115-131 — LAC notes
LAC lost 115-131. LAC shot 52% (43 of 82) to DEN's 56%, 11 of 29 from three. Zubac led with 27 (11 of 15, 5 of 8 at the line); Leonard added 20, Bogdanović 18. Q2 was theirs, 36-32, the deficit cut from 12 to 8, but the other 3 periods went 99-79 against them. Harden's -16 in 35 minutes was the worst on the floor.
5/01 vs DEN — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
The Clippers come in 2-3 over their last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 106, shooting 49 percent and 39 from three, 20 free throws a game; Leonard at 25 and Zubac at 20 a game. Without Coffey (5 straight). One day's rest. Denver comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 106 a night and allowing 109, shooting 47 percent and 39 from three, 22 free throws a game; Jokić at 25 and Murray at 25 a game. One day's rest.
So: The Clippers win, and the game turns on the glass, where Denver has been plus-3 a night and the Clippers minus-3. Call it the Clippers 113, Denver 109, Denver keeping it close.
5/03 @ DEN — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Denver comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 104 a night and allowing 109, shooting 48 percent and 40 from three, 18 free throws a game; Jokić at 25 and Murray at 25 a game. One day's rest. The Clippers come in 3-2 over their last five, scoring 109 a night and allowing 104, shooting 49 percent and 37 from three, 20 free throws a game; Leonard at 26 and Harden at 18 a game. Without Coffey (6 straight). One day's rest.
So: The Clippers win, on the road, and the game turns on the glass, where Denver has been plus-3 a night and the Clippers minus-3 and the turnovers, Denver giving it away 14 times a game to the Clippers' 9. Call it the Clippers 111, Denver 110, Denver keeping it close.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
DENAG A. Gordon
CB C. Braun
DJ D. Jordan
HT H. Tyson
JM J. Murray
JP J. Pickett
JO Jokic
MP M. Porter Jr.
NJ N. Jokić
PW P. Watson
RW R. Westbrook
ZN Z. Nnaji
LACBB B. Bogdanović
BS B. Simmons
CC C. Christie
DE D. Eubanks
DJ D. Jones Jr.
IZ I. Zubac
JH J. Harden
JM J. Miller
KB K. Brown
KD K. Dunn
KL K. Leonard
NB N. Batum
NP N. Powell
DEN/LAC the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur
Jamal Murray, Russell Westbrook spark the Nuggets' 131-115 win over the Clippers
DENVER -- — Nuggets interim coach David Adelman sensed one of Jamal Murray 's patented playoff performances coming, and he was right on the money — just like his point guard.
Murray's 43-point outburst powered Denver's 131-115 win over the Clippers on Tuesday night that handed Los Angeles its first back-to-back losses since March 4 and put the Nuggets one win away from a Round 2 matchup with Oklahoma City.
Murray was 17-of-26 shooting, including 8 for 14 from long range.
“Tonight, he played great," Kawhi Leonard said. "He came out, made shots, got hot, found his teammates and we pretty much couldn’t stop him. He played amazing. Russ (Westbrook) came in and played great, as well.”
Westbrook scored 21 points in his return from a left foot injury, including 16 of them in 12 first-half minutes as Denver led wire-to-wire.
Adelman, the Nuggets' interim coach, said some of Murray's shots “were absolutely ridiculous. And I said before the game it's coming with him. You know it is, in these big moments, these situations. He was born for this.”
This marked Murray's best scoring game outside the Disney World bubble during the pandemic.
“When he's aggressive, we're a different team,” Westbrook said. “When he's got that swagger and he's going out and competing at the level he did tonight, we're a tough team to beat."
Murray got plenty of help, including 23 points from Game 4 hero Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic 's 21st career playoff triple-double (13 points, 10 rebounds, 12 assists) to go with Christian Braun 's double-double (11 points and 12 rebounds).
Braun also provided stellar defense of James Harden , who scored 11 points on 3-of-9 shooting with four turnovers. For the second straight game, he didn't speak with reporters afterward.
And for the second consecutive game, Denver took a 22-point lead early in the fourth quarter only to watch the Clippers go on a furious run.
In Game 4, L.A. erased its entire deficit only to lose 101-99 when Gordon's buzzer-beater provided the first walk-off dunk in NBA playoff history . This time, the Clippers went on a 17-4 run to cut their deficit to single digits at 116-107, but the Nuggets fended off another frenetic finish by going on an 11-0 run with Murray scoring six and Gordon five to compel Clippers coach Tyronn Lue to empty his bench.
Game 6 is Thursday night at the Intuit Dome and another win by Denver would set up a second-round series against top-seeded Oklahoma City, which swept its first-round series with the Memphis Grizzlies .
Ivaca Zubac led the Clippers with a playoff career-high 27 points, Leonard added 20 and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 18.
Westbrook's return allowed Adelman to use his bench more after all five starters logged at least 42 minutes in Game 4. Only Murray logged more than 40 minutes Tuesday night.
Murray “came out being aggressive, which we knew we would," Lue said. "That’s why we started off with a blitz against him, just trying to slow him down. We knew in Game 5 he would come out aggressive, and he made every shot — pull-up 3s, mid-range. We blitzed him, we dropped, we switched, we did a lot of different coverages, but he had a hell of a game.”
"Holding Joker to 13 points and losing the game is tough. But that’s how they beat you. If you worry about him too much, other guys can beat you. But I just thought Jamal Murray was excellent tonight.”