By Floyd Barber

5 3 2025

(4) Denver vs. (5) LA Clippers

• Game 1: Nuggets 112, Clippers 110 (OT)
• Game 2: Clippers 105, Nuggets 102
• Game 3: Clippers 117, Nuggets 83
• Game 4: Nuggets 101 at Clippers 99
• Game 5: Nuggets 131, Clippers 115
• Game 6: Clippers 111, Nuggets 105
• Game 7: Clippers at Nuggets (Sat. May 3, 7:30 ET, TNT)

THE NUGGETS, CLIPPERS & GAME 7 HISTORY

Tonight marks the first Game 7 of the 2025 Playoffs and the 152nd in NBA history.

For the Clippers and Nuggets, they’ve both been on this stage before – including a clash against one another in the 2020 West Semifinals.

• Denver is 4-4 all-time in Game 7s, including a 3-2 mark since 2019 with Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray (2-1 since adding Michael Porter Jr. in 2020)
• LA is 4-5 all-time in Game 7s, including a 1-1 mark since 2020 with Kawhi Leonard and Ivica Zubac
• The Nuggets defeated the Clippers in their 2020 Game 7 clash behind Murray’s 40 points and Jokić’s triple-double (16 pts, 22 reb, 13 ast, 2 stl, 3 blk) – a statline never matched in the Playoffs since block & steals have been tracked (1974)
• The Clippers faced another Game 7 a year later, and it was Leonard’s turn to stuff the stat sheet (28 pts, 10 reb, 9 ast, 4 stl, 1 blk) – a statline only matched in the Playoffs by Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, Jimmy Butler III & Michael Jordan

Throughout all of NBA history, home teams have won 74.2% of all Game 7s (112-39).

• However, recent NBA history has seen at least one road team win a Game 7 in each of the past nine Playoffs (2016-2024)
• The most recent team to lose a Game 7 at home? The Nuggets, 350 days ago
• In the 2024 West Semis, the Minnesota Timberwolves completed the largest Game 7 comeback of the play-by-play era (since 1998) as they rallied from 20 points down in the 2nd half to stun the Nuggets at Ball Arena
• “We’re going to look back at that, use it as a lesson learned,” said Adelman. “But this is now. This is a different team that we’re competing against.”

Both teams enter tonight’s matchup looking for a bit of Game 7 redemption.

• LA looks to avenge its 2020 loss to Denver by eliminating the Nuggets on their home floor and advancing past the first round for the first time since 2021
• Denver looks to avoid another gut-wrenching home loss to end its season and win a Playoff series for the third straight year, a streak that began with their 2023 title run

The winner of tonight’s Game 7 will head to Oklahoma City to face the top-seeded Thunder in the West Semifinals.

• The Nuggets split their season series with the Thunder 2-2, making them one of only five teams to defeat 68-win OKC multiple times this season
• The Clippers were swept by the Thunder 4-0 this season and are just 2-9 against OKC since the start of the 2022-23 season

COURTESY NBA COMMUNICATIONS