INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The LA Clippers are starting to play better defensively. But on Thursday against the Denver Nuggets, the last line of LA’s defense was its notorious home crowd at Intuit Dome.
After recently acquired Bennedict Mathurin made two free throws to tie his career high of 38 points and give the Clippers a 115-112 lead with 9.1 seconds remaining, the Nuggets were down to one final chance. LA is usually a team that fouls up three points, but starting wing Derrick Jones Jr. got Nuggets All-Star Jamal Murray to terminate his dribble. Unfortunately for Jones, Murray was able to goad Jones into a three-shot foul with 0.9 seconds remaining.
Murray made the first two free throws. But after the Nuggets subbed to put rebounders Jonas Valančiūnas, Bruce Brown and Christian Braun into the game, Murray missed the game-tying free throw with the Nuggets facing The Wall, the uninterrupted, steep 51 rows of Intuit Dome designed to intimidate opponents visually and audibly. The miss secured the Clippers’ 115-114 win on the front end of a back-to-back.
The fact that Murray was shooting against The Wall side of the court in the second half was a Denver decision, as the road team chooses before games which end of the floor to shoot at. The Nuggets have preferred to have their offense in front of their bench in the second half of games this season under coach David Adelman, though when the Nuggets visited the Clippers in November, they did what most teams do and elected to face The Wall in the first half.
That November game wasn’t close at the end because Nikola Jokić scored 55 points, including 52 through three quarters. But on Thursday, the Nuggets gave Intuit Dome a signature moment at the end.
“They’ve been great all year,” Clippers All-Star Kawhi Leonard said of The Wall. “Another boost for us in those fourth quarters. We need energy throughout the game. They’re always there to show their support, always loud, always trying to get in the opponent’s head. If the coach is on the bench drawing a play or if they’re at the free-throw line, I feel like they’re engaged.”
What was Leonard thinking when Murray, an 88.7 percent free-throw shooter, was at the line with a chance to send the game into overtime?
“I mean, we were up three, knocked down the first two,” Leonard said. “So I was just hoping he missed.”
It’s not the first time that Murray has missed a critical free throw this season. On Jan. 27 against the Detroit Pistons, Murray drew three-shot fouls on Javonte Green twice in the final four seconds of the game with the Nuggets trailing by three points each time, but Murray missed free throws on both trips. Murray’s missed free throw Thursday was the fifth of the fourth quarter for the Nuggets, their most missed free throws in the fourth quarter of a loss all season.
“Jamal made a huge shot, gave us a chance at the end,” Adelman said. “You go to the free-throw line. Guy that we trust the most on our team to make those shots. So, yeah, I just thought the turnovers and the free throws, that’s what killed us in this game. That kept them in the game when we had control of it.”
The Nuggets led Thursday’s game 74-64 with 4:52 left in the third quarter. It wasn’t a standout game for Leonard, despite extending his career-best streak of consecutive 20-point scoring games to 34 while scoring 10 of his 23 points in the third quarter. Leonard didn’t make a field goal in the final 16:52.
But the Clippers got an immediate and sustained boost from Mathurin, who was playing his first home game as a Clipper following this month’s trade-deadline deal with the Indiana Pacers that brought Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson to LA in exchange for center Ivica Zubac and power forward Kobe Brown. The Clippers secured valuable draft capital in the transaction, but Mathurin is a 2026 restricted free agent who has shown an ability to score at a high level. He had his first 30-point game since scoring 36 points in Indiana’s season opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and he scored the most points by a Clippers reserve since Lou Williams had 40 points off the bench in March 2019 against the Thunder.
“He’s been doing it,” Leonard said of Mathurin, who scored 20 of his points in the last 16:52 of the game. “It’s great to have another scorer that can get 30 points. … He was doing it in the finals last year. All year last year with the Pacers. So it’s great to have him.”
Mathurin’s ability to score was on display right away Thursday once he checked in for starting point guard Kris Dunn. Mathurin drew multiple first-quarter shooting fouls, then went on a stretch where he scored three unanswered buckets himself, evaporating a Nuggets lead that was as large as nine in the first quarter.
“It’s what I do,” said the notably confident Mathurin. “I think I’m pretty much trying to get myself going. Just trying to get myself going and just being aggressive going out there. Trying to make layups, and along the way, people (are) fouling me.”
Mathurin needed to give the Clippers a similar boost in the second half, and he was even better, getting to the paint and the foul line at will while also tying Dunn with a second-half team-high four assists. It was an output made even more impressive by the fact that Mathurin still isn’t too familiar with the Clippers’ plays.
“You know, in the first two games, it’s kind of tough not knowing. Even this game, not knowing where I should be in certain situations,” Mathurin said. “But I think just me being aware, always looking at (Clippers coach Tyronn Lue), where I’m supposed to be at, helped a lot. And the more games I play, the more time I spend with the team and practice and stuff like that, I think that it’s gonna help me a lot knowing where to get to my spots.”
Mathurin also made an impact defensively, collecting a career-high-tying three steals, all after halftime. Mathurin’s two third-quarter steals were off Jokić and Murray, leading to easy fastbreak points for himself each time.
“Just reading the defense,” Mathurin said about his defensive plays. “Just being in the right spots at the right time, making plays like that. We have a great defensive coordinator in Jeff Van Gundy. So me and him watched a lot of film on situations where I can be better defensively and make plays.”
After starting 6-21, LA (27-28) has a chance on Friday to reach .500 when it visits the Los Angeles Lakers. The Clippers have had statement wins since the trade deadline in Minnesota, in Houston and now against the Nuggets. But Leonard isn’t letting the Clippers get too far ahead of themselves, even after a thrilling win bolstered by the home gym.
“It’s been great, especially closing out the All-Star and coming in after the break, getting the win,” Leonard said. “Denver’s down two guys that they play a lot. But it’s still good to always get a win.”