Season series: 1-1

The Denver Nuggets are in Los Angeles and will attempt to take a game from a struggling Clippers team that have lost six of their last 10 games. Unfortunately for Denver, Blake Griffin has been medically cleared to play basketball again. Fortunately, he’s still suspended for the incident where he punched a team employee in the face.

This is a huge test for the rookies as Emmanuel Mudiay faces off against the much wiser contemporary in Chris Paul while Nikola Jokic is matched up against someone who excels in what he lacks, the athleticism of DeAndre Jordan.

CP3 has been inside Mudiay’s head so far in the matchup and has held him to a putrid average of 5.5 points on 20 percent shooting through the two games. Luckily Mudiay has been hitting his stride recently so this game should serve as an excellent benchmark for his progress.

Jokic on the otherhand has fared much better in his tests as he averaged 11.5 points on 45.5 percent shooting. He also has never allowed Jordan to score more than three baskets in a game. Great stuff to see from Jokic as there have been concerns of how well he can handle athletic centers.

The difference maker in these matchups seems to be Kenneth Faried as the Nuggets have played one game without him, getting blown out by 17, and have played one with, winning the game by six in Los Angeles. Fortunately, Faried is listed as probable for this game, but expect Michael Malone to ease him back in, as opposed to thrusting him into the starting lineup right away. Faried had a phenomenal 21 point, 11 rebound game on 10-15 shooting as he absolutely ate the Clippers frontcourt alive.

Injury report:

Nuggets: Wilson Chandler – out (right hip arthroscopic surgery), Danilo Gallinari – out (two torn lateral ligaments and medial ligament sprain in right ankle), Joffrey Lauvergne – probable (Sinus wall fracture, Jusuf Nurkic – probable (left knee soreness), JaKarr Sampson – probable (right shoulder strain), Kenneth Faried – probable (low back soreness)

Clippers: None

Battle of the sixth man

As Barton gains more and more traction for the Sixth Man of the Year award, he finds himself facing off against a perennial candidate. Not many people epitomize the sixth man quite as well as Jamal Crawford and it’s easy to see why; when he brings instant offense off the bench with his tough shot making and dazzling ball-handling.

Crawford has been hitting his stride recently as there was a stretch from January 27th to February 20th where he scored at least 15 points off the bench in an eye-popping 10 consecutive games in a row. That’s the longest streak of any player in the NBA this season.

Much like Barton, Crawford actually leads his team in 4th quarter scoring despite coming off the bench. He has 319 total fourth quarter points with the next closest being Paul with 278. If it comes down to a close game, the Nuggets will need to have an answer for him.

Keys to victory

The first three quarters will be monumental as the Nuggets will have to put the game away early before they face off against the Clippers’ superior late-game execution led by not only one of the greatest floor generals today, but of all time. The Clippers go from one of the most efficient offenses in the league with him on the court, to one of the very worst with him on the bench. If the Nuggets haven’t close the game out by the end of the third, not only does the youthful squad lack the experience and execution to end games efficiently (7-34 without leading after the third), but the Clippers are absolutely elite at maintaining a fourth quarter lead sporting a dominant 21-2 record when leading after three.

Rebounding is another area of utmost importance as the Clippers are 11-2 when out-rebounding their opponent while the Nuggets are a horrific 3-19 when losing the battle on the glass. Denver isn’t the greatest shotmaking team, converting just 44.3 percent of their shots (22nd in the league) so they will need all the extra shots and possessions they can get if they wish to have a chance against a Clippers team who are ninth in the NBA with 46.1 percent from the field. This is where Faried will help the Nuggets most as not only does he dominate the boards but he can also score baskets at an extremely efficient rate, if he’s able to play.