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The Clippers had to to wait until after the final buzzer sounded, until Mike Conley Jr.’s somehow bounced off the rim, to learn who their second-round opponent would be.
Bring on the Denver Nuggets.
The Nuggets barely held off the Utah Jazz, and their reward for coming back from a 3-1 series deficit — the first team to do so since 2016 — and outlasting the one-man wrecking crew that was Donovan Mitchell is a date with the Clippers in the next round of the postseason.
Below is the schedule for the conference semifinals matchup. Thus far, all the games are scheduled for 6:00 p.m. PT.
- Game 1: Thursday, Sept. 3, TNT
- Game 2: Saturday, Sept. 5, TNT
- Game 3: Monday, Sept. 7, TNT
- Game 4: Wednesday, Sept. 9, ESPN
- Game 5 (if necessary): Friday, Sept. 11, TNT
- Game 6 (if necessary): Sunday, Sept. 13, ESPN
- Game 7 (if necessary): Tuesday, Sept. 15, ESPN
The Clippers went 2-1 against the Nuggets during the regular season. Each team won the game on its home court before the hiatus, and LA beat Denver during the seeding games — though, to be fair, the Nuggets appeared to have little interest in winning that game since homecourt advantage wasn’t at stake.
The Clippers have played the Nuggets in the postseason once before in franchise history, back in 2006. In that season, LA absolutely tanked that year to draw Denver as its playoff opponent (back when winning the division still meant something); the Clippers were validated in their decision when they beat the Nuggets 4-1, their first series win since the team moved to Los Angeles.
Stay tuned for more series preview coverage before the ball tips on Thursday. Twelve more wins to go!