Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Denver Nuggets didn’t play good defense this season. They were a middle-of-the-pack team for much of the year (16th in the league before the All-Star break) that got worse in the final months of the season and was bottom 10 in the league after the break.
It’s impossible to play defense like that all season and then flip the switch in the playoffs.
Especially going against a Clippers offense that was the best in the league in the final 20 games of the season, when the Clippers went 17-3.