Game ID: 42400174
Denver Nuggets @ LA Clippers
Saturday, April 26, 2025 at 6:00 PM ET
Intuit Dome, Inglewood, CA
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
LAC 22 26 17 34 99DEN 27 23 35 16 101
DEN @ LAC ScoutingDEN @ 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.
LAC availability going into 4/13 · 1 day's restOUT Coffey missed 7 since 3/31, returns tonight: 4 min (16% of 24)
BACK Miller back 4/05 after 11, 3 min since (28% of 11)
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
DEN availability going into 4/13 · 1 day's restOUT Šarić missed 4 since 4/04, out tonight
OUT Nnaji missed 3 since 4/06, returns tonight: 6 min (63% of 10)
BACK Murray back 4/11 after 6, 32 min since (85% of 37)
BACK Porter Jr. back 4/04 after 2, 36 min since (108% of 33)
BACK Strawther back 4/04 after 16, 8 min since (38% of 20)
NEW Gordon 30 to 36 min over the last 4
NEW Pickett 13 to 25 min over the last 5
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
I Know — the desk, before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
The Clippers come in 4-1 over their last five, scoring 111 a night and allowing 103, shooting 51 percent and 41 from three, 18 free throws a game; Leonard at 29 and Harden at 26 a game. Without Coffey (3 straight). One day's rest. Denver comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 108 a night and allowing 110, shooting 46 percent and 33 from three, 26 free throws a game; Jokić at 24 and Gordon at 21 a game. It has won the glass by 4 a night. One day's rest.
So: The Clippers win, and the game turns on the arc, the Clippers at 41 percent from three to Denver's 33 and the line, where Denver takes 26 free throws a game to the Clippers' 18. Call it the Clippers 114, Denver 109.
4/13 @ GSW 124-119 — LAC notes
LAC won 124-119 in 1 overtime. LAC shot 56% (48 of 86) to GSW's 54%, 14 of 30 from three. The glass went 42-25 for them. Harden led with 39 (13 of 23, 5 of 8 from three, 8 of 9 at the line); Leonard added 33, Zubac 22. The hinge was Q2, 35-25: LAC came in trailing by 8 and left it ahead by 2. Leonard was the night's best plus/minus at +17.
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 — 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.
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.
4/13 @ HOU 126-111 — DEN notes
DEN won 126-111. DEN shot 51% (45 of 88) to HOU's 45%, 10 of 29 from three, and went to the line 31 times to HOU's 14 — 26 points from the stripe to their 9. Porter Jr. led with 19 (8 of 12, 3 of 6 from three); Jokić added 18, Gordon 18. The hinge was Q3, 37-19: a lead of 13 became 31, and the lead reached 36. Jokić was the night's best plus/minus at +34.
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 — 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.
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.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
LACBB B. Bogdanović
BS B. Simmons
DJ D. Jones Jr.
IZ I. Zubac
JH J. Harden
KD K. Dunn
KL K. Leonard
NB N. Batum
NP N. Powell
DENAG A. Gordon
CB C. Braun
DJ D. Jordan
JM J. Murray
JP J. Pickett
JO Jokic
MP M. Porter Jr.
NJ N. Jokić
PW P. Watson
VČ V. Čančar
LAC/DEN 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
Aaron Gordon's historic dunk at buzzer lifts Nuggets over Clippers 101-99 and ties series 2-2
INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- — Aaron Gordon turned Nikola Jokic 's airball into a bit of NBA history as time expired.
Gordon swarmed the glass and slammed down Jokic’s miss to lift the Denver Nuggets over the Los Angeles Clippers 101-99 on Saturday and tie their playoff series 2-2.
“Nice pass,” Gordon said, smiling.
Jokic attempted a turnaround 3-pointer from the right side over Ivica Zubac as the clock ran down. His thoughts as he saw it was going to soar past the rim?
“This is going to be bad,” Jokic said.
Gordon's basket was ruled good by the referees before it was automatically reviewed at the NBA's replay center in New Jersey. The official there confirmed the ball left Gordon's hands above the rim before the buzzer sounded after the Nuggets had blown a 22-point lead.
“It has to be out of his hand when that red light is on,” referee Zach Zarba told a pool reporter. “That's what we're looking for. It's not the cylinder of the rim, it's whether it's in contact with his hand or not when that red light comes on.”
Jokic's review?
“It was really, really close,” he said.
The NBA said it was the first game-winning, buzzer-beating dunk in the playoffs since the detailed play-by-play era began in 1997-98.
“I'm glad it'll be a Nugget day, not a Clipper day,” Denver interim coach David Adelman said.
It was the Clippers' second heartbreaking loss of the series, having dropped Game 1 by two points in overtime.
“It's still a series, best-of-three,” Clippers star Kawhi Leonard said. “We'll see what happens.”
Jokic had 36 points, 21 rebounds and eight assists to lead the Nuggets. Michael Porter Jr . and Christian Braun had 17 points apiece.
Leonard scored 24 points. Norman Powell added 22 and Zubac had 19 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.
The Nuggets split their two games at the new Intuit Dome. Game 5 is Monday in Denver.
“This is going to be a dogfight every single game,” Powell said.
A skirmish between the teams near the end of the first half resulted in six technical fouls, including on Jokic.
The Clippers led for the first time in the game at 97-96 on Bogdan Bogdanovic’s offensive rebound and basket with 1:11 remaining.
Jokic’s free throw and basket put Denver back in front, 99-97, before Zubac tied it.
Gordan sprang for the rebound off Jokic's miss with James Harden on his back. The Nuggets appeared jubilant while the Clippers sat blankly on their bench while the referees reviewed the play.
“Gordon made a hell of a play,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said.
The Nuggets outscored the Clippers 35-19 in the third to lead 85-65.
Leonard, Harden and Powell sparked the Clippers in the fourth, when they outscored Denver 34-16.
Jokic was one of three Nuggets, along with Gordon and Braun, to receive technicals for the mid-court melee with 6.6 seconds left. Harden, Powell and Kris Dunn of the Clippers got offsetting fouls after the referees decided no closed fist punches were thrown.
The confrontation riled up Clippers fans, who chanted, “Throw him out!” at Gordon, but it didn't do much for the home team. Los Angeles struggled offensively, shooting 39 of 88 and just 10 of 30 from 3-point range while trailing most of the entire game.
The Nuggets led by two at halftime before breaking the game open in the third. They outscored the Clippers 35-17 to go into the fourth ahead 85-65. Jokic had 14 points and the Nuggets hit five 3-pointers to one for the Clippers.
Denver's Russell Westbrook sat out with left foot inflammation.