Red hot Nuggets blow out Clippers to win fifth straight

LOS ANGELES — The Nuggets were well on their way to an important victory over the Clippers on Feb. 27 before Denver blew a 19-point third-quarter advantage and allowed reserve center Boban Marjanovic to score 18 points in 15 minutes. The Nuggets fell 122-120 that night, which gave the Clippers the valuable head-to-head tiebreaker over the Nuggets if the two teams finished with identical records at the end of the season and a playoff spot was on the line.

Fortunately for the Nuggets, they don’t have to worry about that tiebreaker any longer.

The Nuggets again led by 19 points in the third quarter Saturday but were able to quiet Marjanovic and the Clippers and pull out a 134-115 win. The loss eliminates the Clippers from playoff contention.

The Clippers got to within 13 points at the 7:57 mark of the third quarter and trimmed the Nuggets’ lead to 14 with under six minutes remaining in regulation. But a Will Barton three followed by a Wilson Chandler jumper put the Nuggets ahead for good a few minutes later.

Barton led the way for Denver with a game-high 31 points on 11-15 shooting. He made five of his nine three-point attempts. Nikola Jokic recorded his ninth-triple double of the season and finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists.

Jamal Murray finished with 19 points on an efficient 8-10 shooting and seven assists. Murray was a team-high plus-24 in the game. Chandler chipped in 13 points, and Paul Millsap added 15 as every Nuggets’ starter finished in double-figures.

Lous Williams led the Clippers with 24 points off the bench. The Clippers shot 32 free-throws to the Nuggets’ 23. Los Angeles attempted 29 free-throws in the first half. Williams went 10-12 from the charity stripe.

Denver now has a season-long five-game winning streak and is tied with the Timberwolves record wise. Minnesota is still eighth in the West by virtue of a head-to-head tiebreaker.

The Nuggets host the Trail Blazers on Monday in their second-to-last regular season game.