Harden FOLDING IN GAME 7 🫣 ‘The most embarrassing franchise collapse in the NBA’ 👀 | SportsCenter

Harden FOLDING IN GAME 7 🫣 ‘The most embarrassing franchise collapse in the NBA’ 👀 | SportsCenter

AOB, it was no joke in the Clippers Nuggets game from these guys. As we love to say, the best two words in sports, game seven. Second quarter, Nuggets up one. Russell Westbrook picks off Harden and finds Aaron Gordon for the slam. He threw that thing down like dominoes. Now halfway through the second, Brody says, “If you give it to me, shoot, I’ll take it.” 42% from three in the series, the best in any series of his career. Hey, Russ can shoot. Later in the second, Westbrook serves up Joic with the no look dish and one ref. Strong finish from the Joker. Nuggets up six. Still in the second from defense to offense. Get out of here. The block by Joic. Jamal Murray says, “We’re going coast to coast.” Brian in the first half. The Nuggets outscored the Clippers 20 to4 in transition. They lead by 11. Third quarter. Joic with the step back. Step back. You don’t know me like that. We’re doing that thing now where we keep track. So pay attention to the top right of your screen. Brown makes it a 50 run after that three. He had 21. Next Nuggets possession, Joic finds Gordon for the reverse. Reverse dunk. 70 run. Next possession again, Murray finds Michael Porter Jr. for the corner pocket. Trey ball. Wow. Nuggets went on a 100 run. Back to back to back to back. Still in the third. Denver is up 20 this time. Joic finds Porter Jr. Nothing but net. He finished with 15. Man, it was going crazy in there. And they weren’t done. The big man. Oh yeah, that’s barbecue chicken and one ref. Jokic had 1610 and eight. Then the play of the night. Brown sends air mail to Gordon and he’s got friends in high places. Gordon had a team high 22. Denver blows it open in the third. Up by 27. Fourth quarter. Westbrook. He gets the steal and it’s showtime. I love what he said after the game. I’m in there to Well, it’s Sunday. Do you want to say that? He tells the Clippers to go home. He had 16. Here’s Joic after the win. I think that’s the best description of us, finding the way to win a game, finding the player, finding the momentum, finding the stop, finding the basket where we need. So, great series for us. We beat some great great team, really talented team. I think we could have gave a better effort for sure. Uh at the time I don’t think this team was uh 30 points better than this. Um I mean we’ve seen it throughout the first six games of this series, but you got to give them credit. Uh the Nuggets advance to take on the top seed Thunder in the conference semi-finals, although not officially yet. Shay Gas Alexander and Nicole Joic are very likely going to uh finish first and second for MVP. The last time the top two players in MVP voting met in the playoffs, Russell Westbrook and James Harden in 2017. But the Nuggets are moving on after a dominant game seven win. We now bring in 13-year NBA vet Cinton Richardson and Anscape senior writer David Dennis Jr. in a Sports Center. David, let’s start with you because brother, I know you’re itching to lay into these Clippers now, okay? And I know you got a lot to say. So, how bad was this collapse? Look, I know it’s a first round, but this is one of the most consequential and embarrassing collapses any franchise experienced in the playoffs ever. Think about the money that this franchise has set on fire during this Kawhi Leonard era in the Clippers, waiting for a moment when he can be healthy and you can make a playoff run and you’re finally there and you lay an egg like this. playoff. Jimmy Harden shows up in game seven. Seven points who has now had 14 points in average in since 2020 in game seven below 30% all those games. Kawhi Leonard, you sat out half the season. So you could show up in a game seven like this and you do not show up and you fold like this in this moment. And to cap it all off, you get to spend the next few weeks watching the OKC Thunder turn those assets that you gave them into a possible championship run to a possible dynasty. Q. Look, I slept like a baby last night, but if I’m a Clippers fan, I don’t know how you sleeping well for a very long time after what you saw last night and what you’re about to see for the next few weeks. Hey, listen. I’m not going to sugarcoat today. Double D. It was bad. It was bad. I was sitting there like, not like this. Like, at least let’s fight. Let’s be competitive. Let’s do something. But I mean, before we everybody start ping on the James Harden stuff, man, let me let me just say this because I I watched and I felt like he was playing the James Harden game. He you don’t you’re not aggressive. You’re not terrible if you have 13 assist. I felt like he came out and he was trying to set the tables like get everybody else going and like knowing that I got the ball. I could get my game off whenever. He did a good job of getting people out. 13 assists is is not easy to do. We all know that. And the blowout came too quick. He didn’t get a chance to get himself going and try to get himself to go off because the snowball effect came. Everything rolled up too fast and before you know it, you’re down 19 20 points and and you looking upward at everything and it and the crowd is yelling, the crowd is loud, everything came at them too fast. And I think it was just a it was just a bad bad night on the worst day possible in the game seven. We got a little bit of ying and yanging over here. Double D was cooking and Q calmed things down just a little bit. But the Nuggets are the first team to outscore an opponent by 15 plus points in multiple quarters in a game seven in NBA history. They now turn their attention to the Thunder though. A little bit of a scary team, but listen to this real quick. Denver Inram head coach David Adelman was asked about facing OKC and this is what he said. They’re the best team in the NBA uh throughout this season. And I had a really good friend the other day make me feel awful. He I said, “Yeah, if we win this series, man, we got to play a team that’s 68 and 14.” He said, “No, man. They’re 72 and 14.” I Okay, that’s right. Appreciate that, bro. You’re going up against some dogs, some young dogs who got some rest as well. So, Q, how can Denver upset OKC? Um, me personally, I don’t think they can, but I I I think the best case scenario for them to try to is Jamal Murray has to go nuclear. Jamal Murray has to be that superstar guy that we’ve seen in the bubble and we’ve seen pop in and out of different times and go for 30 40 points cuz we’ve seen that Joker is going to be a consistent consistent variable that’s going to be there every night just depending on how high and how low he may go. But he’s going to be triple doubling and getting his points. So, we know that he’s going to be there. If they can get the the superstar Jamal Murray and you still couple that with the defense and the complimentary players, the Aaron Gordons and the Christian Browns playing well, that’s the best chance they got at OKC. Yeah, man. You turning me into a negative person this morning. I don’t think the Thunder uh I don’t think the Nuggets really got a shot either, but we going to figure out a way to find a find a little hope here. And that hope is lies in Joic. The And look at the last time that these two teams played. Joic had 3518 and 8. Uh the Nuggets hit 18 threes. They shot 56% and a lot of that was the fact that Jokic was unstoppable. He dominated against those bigs. And you’re going to have to have him do that and put up a little bit of cushion when he’s on the court because we know that those nonic minutes have been a disaster for the Nuggets during the regular season. They’re going to be especially trying against this deep OKC team. So he when he is on the court, he has to be the best player on the court by far for the Nuggets to have a shot. Yeah, that series starts Monday. OKC is currently favored to win that series at minus 900. Sheesh. Appreciate it, fellas. Speaking of game seven, the Rockets looking to complete a comeback from 3-1 down against Warriors in game seven tonight in Houston. So let’s go by the numbers. Fred Van Vleet has been lights up from behind the arc, shooting 67% on three-pointers over the past three games. He’s made 18 three-pointers, the most in a three game span in Rockets postseason history. And Steph Curry over the same span, not cooking, averaging just under 20 uh shooting below 40% from the field, including one for seven in the fourth of game six. But the chef has stepped up in game sevens in his career. Curry dropping 50 in his last game seven against the Kings in 2023, becoming the first player in NBA history to score 50 points in a seventh game. 13-year NBA vet Quinton Richardson and Anscape senior writer David Dennis Jr. back with us. David, we got a young and hungry team here playing at home against some vets who have been there, done that. So, what’s going to be the key to win this win or win or go home game? It’s about the two best players, about Batman and Robin for the Warriors, about Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler. As you just mentioned, the Rockets haveounded Steph for the last three games or so. But we need that 50point Steph Curry that we got in that King series a few years ago. And we need that same Jimmy Butler that went into Boston and won a game seven and almost won another game seven the year prior to that because really the Warriors are running out of players. Pods, Buddy Heel, Gary Peyton II have been negatives in these last couple of games. They’re running out of options and people to make open threes. It’s got to be Stephan Jimmy Butler taking over offensively and Jimmy Butler taking over offensively and defensively for the Warriors to have a shot in this game seven. Yeah, I I can’t argue with that. On the flip side, David, man, that the Rockets they they need they need Jaylen Green. They need that 38 point game player that that he was in um I think game two. Uh, and listen, Changon has been consistent. He’s been the guy. He’s been delivering for them and doing what he’s supposed to do. But Van Vleet these last three games, he’s been the difference maker. He he he’s been averaging upward with like 27 30 points and he’s been the guy that’s been pushing and driving force for them because Jaylen Green hasn’t been able to. But if they want to win this game seven, they gonna need a big game out of Jaylen Green. And they got to have the consistency they’ve been getting from Shangon and Van Ble. All right, so the moment of truth over here. We we got to pick this game. So David, who wins? Man, there’s a very fine line between experience and old. I’m going to leave with experience and the Warriors. I hope that that carries them and they don’t go out there looking old in game seven. I think with Jimmy, Steph, Draymond, they find a way to pull this thing out. Yeah, I’m with double D. I got to go with the Warriors here. I got to go with the experience. There’s no way I’m going to bet against that little light-skinned dude number 30 right now in the game seven. I I feel that, man. The Rockers are attempting to win their third series when trailing 3-1. The game tips off at 8:30 p.m. Eastern. So, for a game seven to a game one, Pacers Cavaliers begin their series today. Q, how can the Cavs make their first conference finals appearance since 2018? Spider Mitchell. Spider Mitchell got to be big time. I think he’s a first team allNBA this year. He’s led this team this far and they they they’ve had one of the best records in the NBA. He’s shown that he has the ability to turn it on and take over when they needed to. Now they in the big dance, man. This is this is this is what they’ve been playing for the whole season to get to these playoffs, to get to the promised land and to prove who they are and what they can do. This is the biggest stage. I feel like they got all of the pieces. They got a deep team and he’s at the head of the snake. I think they have a big series from him and he he leads the way. absolutely with you with the Donovan Mitchell, but it’s the overall offense of that Cavs I think led by Mitchell as you mentioned Q going out there and being as executing that halfcourt offense. They have one of the best half court offense that we’ve seen in NBA history. What we know is that Pacers team is going to try to run you off the three-point line, but that leaves them kind of vulnerable in the paint. You have to attack that defense, get some shots, and make the Pacers pull the ball out of the hoop and get into their own half court offense because you don’t want that Pacers team flying up and down the court. And one of the ways they do that is make you miss uh make you miss shots, get rebounds, and get in transition. Get in that halfcourt offense and execute and the Cavs should be able to win this series. Yeah, and to your point, double D, the Pacers are three and one versus the Cavs this season and they have seen that side of of them. and the Cavs. The game tips at 600 p.m. Eastern. Thanks, guys. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]

On SportsCenter, David Dennis Jr. and Quentin Richardson join to talk about the Los Angeles Clippers losing to the Nuggets in Game 7, debate if Denver can get past the Oklahoma City Thunder, preview the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Indiana Pacers series and more!

0:00 Clippers vs. Nuggets Game 7 recap
4:35 Kawhi Leonard and James Harden’s responsibility for the loss
5:41 Can Denver upset OKC?
8:40 The key to the Warriors beating the Rockets in Game 7
10:55 Donovan Mitchell’s role in leading the Cavs to the Finals

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