By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
In a tightly contested matchup at the Intuit Dome, the Los Angeles Clippers narrowly defeated the Denver Nuggets, 115-114, on Thursday.
Despite dealing with early foul trouble, Nikola Jokic finished with 22 points, including 16 after the break. The Serbian superstar shot 9-of-22 from the field and struggled from deep, going 0-of-6 from three-point range. While he dominated the glass with 17 rebounds and dished out six assists, his impact was tempered by six turnovers. “The game was close. We were getting the shots, but didn’t make any. And defensively, they were on the free-throw line most of the time,” he recapped the final five minutes of the nail-biter in a postgame interview.
Countering the resurgence of the Joker in the first game for both sides out of the All-Star break, the Clippers‘ resilience was fueled by a standout 38-point performance from Bennedict Mathurin. The finish was decided at the charity stripe, where Denver’s Jamal Murray missed a crucial free throw with just 0.9 seconds remaining, sealing a move to 27-28 in the 2025-26 NBA Regular Season win for Los Angeles and dropping the Nuggets to 35-21.
The intensity boiled over early in the fourth quarter following a physical sequence in the paint. A confrontation between Nuggets veteran Jonas Valanciunas and Clippers rookie Yanic Konan Niederhauser, which eventually drew in Kris Dunn and Mathurin, resulted in several technical fouls as both teams jockeyed for late-season momentum.
In 13 minutes of action, Swiss Niederhauser registered four points, four rebounds, and one assist. Another European reserve for head coach Tyronn Lue, French forward Nicolas Batum, contributed six points and two rebounds in 18 minutes. However, Serbian guard Bogdan Bogdanovic remained out of the rotation.
As for the 33-year-old Valanciunas, the Lithuanian backup center got six points, four rebounds, and two steals over 12 minutes.