Tyronn Lue made a timely lineup change Thursday night to help the Clippers survive in their first-round series with Denver, writes Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. To start the second half, Lue decided to replace defensive specialist Kris Dunn with veteran forward Nicolas Batum. Shelburne observes that Dunn has become a liability for L.A.’s offense, as the Nuggets were daring him to shoot and frequently leaving him to send a second defender at James Harden. Batum provides more of a scoring threat, and he’s versatile enough to guard anyone from Jamal Murray to Nikola Jokic.
“When we went small with that shooting lineup, we were able to break the game open a little bit,” Lue said. “That gave James and Kawhi (Leonard) more spacing and they were able to attack more.”
The move invigorated the Clippers, who scored 32 points in the third quarter on their way to extending the series to a seventh game. Shelburne notes that they made all six shots they attempted off Batum’s passes in the second half.
After the game, Lue gave recognition to Dunn and Ben Simmons, neither of whom played after halftime, for being good teammates and understanding the strategy.
“It’s about being a team and whatever it takes to win and those guys totally understood,” Lue said. “Even though they’ve been great for us all year long. So I just wanted to say thank you to them.”
There’s more on the Clippers:
- Harden barely came off the court Thursday night as he logged 47 minutes in the victory. He yawned twice during his post-game press conference, Shelburne adds, but he recognizes the need for such a heavy workload and he’s willing to do it again in Game 7. “I’m tired,” Harden admitted. “Got to. Have to. Whatever the team needs. If it’s 47, 48, overtime, whatever. I’m going to do it.”
- Harden has a chance to alter his negative playoff reputation by leading the Clippers to a win on Saturday, states Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times. Harden has a long history of postseason disappointments, but he delivered 28 points, six rebounds and eight assists in Thursday’s elimination game. Leonard expressed confidence in his teammate, telling reporters, “He’s been here before. Guys have games where they don’t play well during the season. It’s just another game, so I knew he was gonna be able to come back, or he was going to be aggressive and try to get to his spots.”
- Ivica Zubac and Batum teamed up to give Jokic his most frustrating night of the series, per Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. The Nuggets star didn’t score during an 11-minute stretch in the third quarter, and he shot 2-of-9 from the field in the second half. “Zu was a monster on the defensive end tonight, getting closer to Joker, not giving as much space,” Lue said. “Man, with Joker, it’s just hard. If you double-team him, he’s going to pick your apart with his passing. If you stay at home, he’s going to score.”