Clippers v. Nuggets

Who will WIN this matchup?

Los Angeles Clippers

Denver Nuggets

Current odds:

Los Angeles Clippers: (-360)

Denver Nuggets: (+300)

• The line for this game is Clippers by 8.5 points.

• After letting Friday’s Game 5 slip away, the second-seeded Los Angeles Clippers get a second chance to clinch the franchise’s first Western Conference Finals appearance. But the third-seeded Denver Nuggets have gotten mighty good at avoiding elimination. Those factors collide Sunday afternoon when the Clippers and Nuggets meet for Game 6 of their Western Conference semifinal series at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports complex near Orlando with L.A. leading 3-2.

• Friday night, the Nuggets overcame a 15-point second-half deficit to win. Denver is now 5-1 in elimination games the past two seasons, including clawing back from a 3-1 deficit to win its first-round series against Utah in seven games. Clippers coach Doc Rivers said his team’s defensive discipline was not as sharp down the stretch of Game 5, and that they missed some wide-open shots. Malone, meanwhile, called his team’s second-half defense “as good as I’ve seen.” Additionally, veteran forward Paul Millsap scored 14 of his 17 points in the third quarter — and got in a verbal spat with Marcus Morris just before halftime that Malone believes sparked his team after the break.

• Stars Nikola Jokic (22 points, 14 rebounds, five assists) and Jamal Murray (26 points, eight rebounds, seven assists) then hit timely shots down the stretch. And rookie Michael Porter Jr., who publicly expressed his displeasure with his role in Game 4, hit a big 3-pointer to put Denver up by five with 1:11 to play and sank four free throws in the final seconds to help seal the win.

• The Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard finished Game 5 with 36 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals, and remains one of the NBA’s top scorers in these playoffs. When Leonard got a breather in the second half, Rivers said “the game changed.”

• The Clippers’ bench, normally one of the league’s best, struggled in Game 5. Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell totaled six points and three rebounds, while three-time Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams scored four points on 2-of-10 shooting (0 of 5 from 3-point range).

• The Nuggets felt like they gave Game 3 of this series away, after the Clippers rallied from seven points down in the fourth quarter to win. Rivers quipped that “maybe we’ve returned the favor” in Game 5.