LA Clippers the best defensive team in NBA bubble, says BJ Armstrong
Watch Denver Nuggets @ LA Clippers Game 4, live on Sky Sports Arena in the early hours of Thursday morning (2am)
Wednesday 9 September 2020 23:28, UK
The LA Clippers' "championship-calibre" defense leaves the Denver Nuggets with their work cut out heading into Game 4 of their Western Conference semi-final series, said BJ Armstrong.
The Clippers hold a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series with Game 4 taking place in the early hours of Thursday morning, live on Sky Sports Arena. Although the Clippers remain the favourites to win the series, the Nuggets head into Game 4 knowing they wasted an opportunity to seize the advantage in Game 3.
Speaking on the latest edition of the Heatcheck Overtime podcast, former Chicago Bulls guard Armstrong said Denver had earned their opponents respect but felt the Clippers' elite defense had been the deciding factor late on in Game 3.
"Denver have established they can play the game at the highest level with Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic leading the charge," he said. "This is a team you have to respect because they can score. They are an offensive team with a variety of ways to score, with Murray, Jokic and Michael Porter Jr surrounded by a lot of players on the perimeter.
"This team is to be respected and I love what they do, but the Clippers' defense really buckled down in the fourth quarter of Game 3.
"The Clippers are the best defensive team in the bubble because of what they can do individually and collectively. They are a very tough group to play against. The Nuggets have their work cut out. Can they rise to that level when the time comes? That's a big question mark for them."
Heatcheck regular Mo Mooncey echoed Armstrong's praise of the Nuggets but said their penchant for giving up big leads has prevented them from capitalising on moments when they have been in the ascendancy.
"In Game 3, for me, the Denver Nuggets had it and threw it away. The most pivotal part of that game was heading into half-time. They had a big lead and in the last three minutes of the second quarter let the Clippers back into the game. If they had got to half-time up by double digits, I feel the second half would have played out completely differently," he said.
"This has been a problem for the Nuggets throughout the series. They get off to hot starts in each of the quarters but kind of fizzle out down the stretch. You saw it in the fourth quarter of Game 3. I don't know if it is a conditioning thing. I think it's a defensive thing. Jokic is not a great defender. Porter Jr is not close to being a good defender. Murray can do a job but is not great.
"In Game 3, Jerami Grant had a lot of shots down the stretch that you'd prefer Porter Jr to be taking, but you couldn't have him in the game because of what he lacks on defense. The opposition will target him and score on him."
Ovie Soko agreed with Mooncey's analysis: "Game 3 was lost before the fourth quarter. The Nuggets couldn't afford to let the Clippers back into the game. Like Mo said, they have continuously built big leads but allowed the Clippers to come back. They have to figure out a way to maintain the level of play (they have from the outset)."
The Clippers' defensive intensity has had a serious impact on the offensive production of Denver's starting guard Jamal Murray.
Murray starred in the Nuggets' first-round series against the Utah Jazz, averaging more than 30 points a game and reeling off 50-, 42- and 50-point performances. Against the Clippers, he is averaging 17.7 points per game.
"The Clippers are a different animal, defensively," said Armstrong. "They can turn up their game on the defensive end. They know what they want to do against Murray and they are taking things away from him. Give the Clippers and Doc Rivers credit, this is what a championship-calibre team does. They are going to take away the primary options (from opponents) and force them to do other things.
"This is a great lesson for Murray. He is going to have to add new things to his game if he is going to continue to help his team advance, especially in the playoffs.
"I love this Clippers team defensively, they do not have to play well on the offensive end (to win). But when they do put it together like they did in Game 1, you can see the full potential of this team. It is going to be very difficult whoever they play against, because this team can not only target an opponent's schemes but also specific players because they have the versatility to do that."
