LA Clippers at Denver Nuggets

Nuggets do it again, taking Clippers to Game 7 in West

Denver is in no hurry to board that plane.

Nikola Jokic had 34 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists, and the Nuggets topped the Clippers 111-98 on Sunday to even their West semifinal series at three games apiece. The Nuggets will try to become the first team in NBA history to rally from a pair of 3-1 deficits in the same postseason, after doing so against Utah in the West first round.

Jamal Murray scored 21 for Denver, which got 16 from Gary Harris, 13 from Michael Porter Jr. and 10 from Monte Morris.

Paul George had 33 points, Kawhi Leonard scored 25 and Lou Williams had 14 for the Clippers, who are now 0-7 in games where they could clinch a trip to the conference finals.

Of course, the Nuggets flourish when they're in trouble.

They saved their season in Game 5 of the opening round by rallying from 15 points down in the third quarter against Utah to set the tone for a rally from a 3-1 series deficit. They saved themselves again in Game 5 of this series, getting down by 16 before coming back to save the season again.

On Sunday, it was more of the same.

George hit a 3-pointer shortly after halftime for a 19-point lead and Leonard made a pair of free throws with 8:27 left in the third quarter to put the Clippers up 73-55. That's apparently when the Nuggets decided it was time to get going.

Over the next 10 minutes, the Nuggets outscored the Clippers 30-8. Denver had eight different players score in that stretch, Murray and Morris scoring seven apiece, and the big deficit became an 85-81 lead with 10:16 left.

They ran away and hid from there. Now, it's onto Game 7.

TIP-INS

Clippers: Leonard also had eight rebounds and five assists. ... Ivica Zubac had 12 rebounds and George was 11 for 11 from the foul line.

FAST FOUL OUT

The Clippers' Patrick Beverley fouled out with 10:16 remaining, after scoring only two points. It was his sixth foul-out of the season, the second against the Nuggets. And it was only the fourth time he'd fouled out of a playoff game; he did so Sunday in 17:37, more than seven minutes quicker than he'd ever managed to do so in his postseason career.

SCHEDULES SET

Regular Season Series

LAC win series 2-1