The Clippers vs Nuggets recap has two parts: a win and a cut. The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Denver Nuggets 122-110 on Wednesday night at Intuit Dome in their preseason finale. They came back from a 15-point first-quarter deficit and finished with 35 assists on 45 made baskets. Earlier that day, the team waived third-year guard Cameron Christie a day before his salary would have become guaranteed. The Clippers finish the preseason 2-1.
Our Clippers vs Nuggets game day piece covered Tyronn Lue’s injury update. Bradley Beal, Brandon Ingram, Max Strus, Kobe Sanders, Jordan Miller and Yanic Konan Niederhauser all sat, as expected, according to the ESPN box score.
Clippers vs Nuggets Recap: How It Turned
Denver started sharper and led by 15 in the first quarter, according to the Press Enterprise’s Grant Mona via Yahoo Sports. Isaiah Jackson and Darius Garland hit threes, and then the second unit of Brook Lopez, Jalen Pickett, Gradey Dick and Baba Miller finished an 18-3 run that tied the game 24-24 after one quarter.
The quarter scores, which match on ESPN and NBA.com:
- 1st: Clippers 24, Nuggets 24
- 2nd: Clippers 34, Nuggets 31
- 3rd: Clippers 38, Nuggets 26
- 4th: Nuggets 29, Clippers 26
The 38-point third quarter decided it. The Clippers led by as many as 16. They shot 45-of-87 from the field, 15-of-33 from three and 17-of-20 at the line, and turned it over only 11 times. The ESPN and NBA.com box scores agree on those numbers. That is half of the 22 turnovers they had in Honolulu.
The Starting Five
Lue started Garland, rookie Keaton Wagler, Derrick Jones Jr., Rui Hachimura and Jackson at center, per ESPN. It is a small group, and Lue said that is why everyone has to rebound. “We got to do it by committee with our lack of size,” he said, according to WhyNBA.
- Rui Hachimura: team-high 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting, 3-of-5 from three.
- Darius Garland: 14 points and seven assists in 23 minutes, with four turnovers. After sitting the second half in Vancouver, he played a normal starter’s workload.
- Derrick Jones Jr.: 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting and 5-of-6 at the line.
- Keaton Wagler: 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and no turnovers in a team-high 28 minutes, plus-11.
- Isaiah Jackson: nine points, five rebounds and three assists, plus-7.
For Wagler, the No. 5 pick, the three-point shooting mattered. The Press Enterprise reports he had made only three of his first 17 preseason threes before going 3-of-7 on Wednesday.
Baba Miller Makes His Case
Miller, the 36th pick out of Cincinnati, had the best bench game. He scored 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 2-of-2 from three, with five rebounds, and the Clippers were plus-14 in his 21 minutes. He also fouled out with six fouls. With Niederhauser recovering from foot surgery, the Press Enterprise notes that Miller gives Lue another frontcourt option.
Lue liked the second unit’s approach. “Yeah, just the energy, like you said, the pace,” he said. “And they came in with a purpose. I thought they did a really good job.”
Other bench numbers from ESPN: Pickett had 10 points and five assists, Lopez scored nine in eight minutes, Dick had eight points and three steals, and Nick Martinelli had eight points and five rebounds.
The Preseason in Review
The Clippers went 2-1. They beat the Golden State Warriors 104-101 in Honolulu, lost 114-106 to the Toronto Raptors in Vancouver and beat Denver. Hachimura was the most consistent player. The Press Enterprise reports he scored 35 points in 34 minutes over the first two games, and he added 16 more on Wednesday. Ball security got better each game, with 22, 15 and then 11 turnovers.
Lue’s Warning: No Slow Starts
Lue did not let the comeback hide the opening. “We can’t be a team this year to have slow starts,” he said, per WhyNBA. “We got to come out swinging first and take the game to the opponent. We can’t just sit back on our heels, let teams attack us and then understand and realize we got to start playing.”
He added: “We can’t ease into games. The margin for error is slim.”
The Cameron Christie Cut
The Clippers announced Wednesday that they had waived Christie, 21, the 46th pick in the 2024 draft. Hoops Rumors, RealGM (citing ESPN’s Shams Charania) and Hoops Wire all report it. His $2,296,271 salary for 2026-27 was non-guaranteed and would have become guaranteed on Thursday. Hoops Rumors reports the two sides had pushed that date back twice this offseason.
With 15 other players on guaranteed contracts, there was no standard roster spot left for him. He averaged 2.8 points in 8.7 minutes over 55 games last season and has shot 36.8% from the field and 22.6% from three in 68 career games. If he goes unclaimed on waivers, Hoops Rumors and Hoops Wire both note the Clippers have an open two-way spot and could bring him back. That is a possibility, not a reported plan.
The AP’s transaction list also shows the Clippers waived forward DeAndre Williams on Wednesday. Separately, the Clippers re-signed guard Fletcher Loyer to a training camp deal on Tuesday, according to The Athletic’s Law Murray via CBS Sports and WhyNBA. Loyer played seven minutes Wednesday.
Source Notes
- One report, Particle, says the team cited second-apron and tax rules as the reason for the Christie move. We have not seen that in the team’s announcement, so treat it as unconfirmed.
- Kris Dunn did not play. ESPN lists only “coach’s decision,” and no reason has been reported.
- Denver’s Julian Strawther hurt his left knee in the third quarter and was helped to the locker room, per the Press Enterprise. His diagnosis has not been reported.
Full game highlights from the NBA’s official channel:
What’s Next
The Clippers have a week before opening the regular season at home against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, October 21. Rosters must be set before then. Who fills the two-way spot, and whether Christie returns, are the next things to watch.
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