The Los Angeles Clippers didn’t just beat the Denver Nuggets in preseason action - they did it with a kind of offensive rhythm that made the 122-110 result look even more convincing. Los Angeles shot 51.7% from the field, knocked down 15 threes, and outpaced Denver in just about every area that mattered. The Nuggets were efficient enough overall at 47.7%, but the gap from deep told the story: the Clippers hit 45.5% of their three-point attempts, while Denver managed 33.3%.
That edge from long range created a 12-point advantage for Los Angeles beyond the arc, and it came with a lot of different hands involved. Rui Hachimura led the way with 16 points and three made threes on five tries.
Keaton Wagler added 12 points, five rebounds, and four assists while also burying three triples. Derrick Jones Jr. finished with 14 points, Darius Garland put up 14 points and seven assists, Brook Lopez scored nine points in just eight minutes, and Jalen Pickett contributed 10 points on 4-6 shooting with two made threes.
The Clippers’ attack wasn’t built on one-hot stretch. It kept coming from multiple directions.
Garland’s line stood out for more than just the scoring. He gave Los Angeles another steady playmaker, and that showed in the team’s 35 assists on 45 made field goals.
Even with four turnovers of his own, he helped keep the offense moving and made the Clippers look organized when the lineup changed. Wagler added four assists, Pickett had five, and the overall ball movement was a big part of why Los Angeles stayed in control.
The Clippers also protected the ball better as a group, finishing with 11 turnovers compared to Denver’s 16.
Denver had its own bright spots, and the biggest came from Cam Whitmore. He scored 22 points on 8-10 shooting and went 3-4 from three-point range in just 25 minutes.
He also added a steal and a block, showing he was affecting the game in more than one way. Whitmore was efficient, aggressive, and one of the few Nuggets who consistently forced the Clippers to react to him.
Julian Strawther added 17 points on 7-13 shooting, including a three-pointer, giving Denver another useful scoring option off the bench.
Still, the Nuggets couldn’t overcome the rough patches elsewhere. Nikola Jokic finished with five points on 1-6 shooting, along with six rebounds and seven assists in 17 minutes.
Jamal Murray scored 14 points on 6-8 shooting and hit two threes, but he had just one assist in 17 minutes. Christian Braun scored three points, Cameron Johnson had five, and Aaron Gordon finished with eight points and six rebounds in 14 minutes.
Denver finished with 29 assists, but the 16 turnovers and the cold shooting from deep kept the offense from matching Los Angeles.
The preseason context matters, but the Clippers still walked away with something useful: proof that they can score in bunches, share the ball, and do it with enough spacing to make defenses work. For Denver, Whitmore and Strawther provided some lift, but the night belonged to a Clippers team that looked sharp from the start and kept applying pressure until the final buzzer.
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Cam Johnson Put Nuggets Fans In A Tough Spot Against The Lakers
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Johnson had given Denver a scoring boost before the incident, but the game shifted quickly once the officials took a closer look and sent him out. The Nuggets still finished the preseason at 3-2 after beating Los Angeles, while Reaves led the Lakers in scoring, leaving Denver with the win and one lingering talking point as the regular season approaches. [Read more 🡒]