The Clippers Dropped 38 in the Third. Denver Couldn't Match It.

The Clippers beat Denver 122–110 after blowing the game open in the third quarter, and there's an actual story here beyond 'LA scored a lot.' It was tied 24–24 after one quarter and a three-point Clippers lead at halftime, 58–55. Then LA put up 38 in the third to Denver's 26. That pushed the advantage to 96–81, and Denver's better fourth quarter was nowhere near enough to undo it.

The Clippers: six players with answers

Rui Hachimura led LA with 16 points and five boards, making three of five threes. Baba Miller had 15 on 5-for-6 shooting, Derrick Jones Jr. and Darius Garland had 14 apiece, and Garland added seven assists. Keaton Wagler scored 12 with four assists; Jalen Pickett chipped in 10 and five assists. The Clippers finished with 35 assists on 52 percent shooting overall and 45 percent from deep. That's a connected offense, not one guy taking turns hunting mismatches.

LA also protected the ball much better than Denver—12 total turnovers compared with 17—and scored 27 points off Nuggets miscues. The ball movement was the most convincing part for me. Winning a preseason game doesn't prove your offensive system will hold up against playoff defenses, but getting that many people legitimate touches gives a coach something worth building.

Denver: positives in the loss

Trevon Brazile scored 22 points on 8-for-10 shooting, including three of four threes. Cam Whitmore added 17 and Jamal Murray scored 14 on 6-for-8 in just 17 minutes. Julian Strawther made three threes for 11. Denver still shot 48 percent overall with 29 assists, so this wasn't a complete offensive collapse. The Nuggets scored 54 in the paint, slightly more than the Clippers' 50.

Nikola Jokić only played 16 minutes, and that context matters before declaring that the Clippers have figured out how to beat Denver when it counts. A lot of this was about depth and combinations on an October preseason floor. The Nuggets won the fourth 29–26 and got useful scoring from Brazile and Whitmore. The actual problem was the third-quarter defensive slide and the costly turnovers.

6ix Take: I'm more interested in 35 assists than a preseason win

Watching six different Clippers contribute meaningful offense is a lot more encouraging than somebody going off for 35 in an exhibition. They moved the ball, had a 38-point quarter, and made Denver work. That's what I want to see when the games start mattering. But be careful with the 'they own Denver' nonsense when Jokić barely played. That ain't analysis. That's an overreaction looking for clicks.

Denver has a real rotation question: can the younger scorers like Brazile and Whitmore bring this kind of energy without the defense falling apart around them? LA has its own test: can this shared offense survive tougher pressure? There were lessons for both teams, and those are more useful than acting like October 14 decided the Western Conference.