Nuggets vs. Clippers: Play-by-play, highlights and reactions

The Denver Nuggets (20-18) play against the Los Angeles Clippers (21-21) at STAPLES Center

Game Time: 10:30 PM EST on Tuesday January 11, 2022

Denver Nuggets 14, Los Angeles Clippers 10 (Q1 04:34)

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Michael Singer @msinger
#Nuggets sloppy with the ball so far with four turnovers, but Jokic is already picking apart Clippers’ defense. Two assists on backdoor cuts. Just downloading L.A.’s defense. – 10:52 PM

Adam Mares @Adam_Mares
Nuggets left some points on the table in that first stint. Still lead 8-10. – 10:51 PM

Ryan Blackburn @NBABlackburn
Marcus Morris demonstrating how to properly utilize a take foul without delivering a cheap shot. – 10:51 PM

Law Murray @LawMurrayTheNU
Not a fast start offensively for either team.
Nuggets have missed all four 3s and have as many turnovers (4) as buckets.
They still lead LA 10-8 midway through first quarter. Clippers have missed all three 3s, have no FT attempts, and Morris/Jackson are 0/6 FGs. – 10:50 PM

Andrew Greif @AndrewGreif
Reggie Jackson had an unforced error going behind-the-back with a pass that left Ty Lue shaking his head. Lue yanked Jackson a couple times after mistakes Sunday. – 10:50 PM

Ryan Blackburn @NBABlackburn
Nuggets are destroying themselves with turnovers and missed layups. Lots of opportunities. – 10:49 PM

Los Angeles Clippers @LAClippers
The Brim Reaper ☕️
📺 @BallySportWest | @coffeyshop_ pic.twitter.com/f6oFAaLFPI – 10:48 PM

Denver Nuggets @nuggets
That’s beautiful basketball 👏 pic.twitter.com/Bgh9y19YVX – 10:48 PM

Andrew Greif @AndrewGreif
Very early Serge Ibaka minutes with Ivica Zubac getting two fouls within four minutes. – 10:45 PM

Vinny Benedetto @VBenedetto
JaMychal Green finds a cutting Nikola Jokic for a dunk. Big fella’s second bucket gives the Nuggets an early 6-2 lead over the Clippers. – 10:45 PM

Los Angeles Clippers @LAClippers
🗣️ #ClipperNation Roll Call
We’ve got @PaulWHauser from @CobraKaiSeries in the building tonight. pic.twitter.com/MkPbiZvuXW – 10:31 PM

Michael Singer @msinger
#Nuggets coach Michael Malone is a shrewd communicator. He knows his messages ring a little bit louder when they’re uttered in Los Angeles as opposed to Denver, which might be why he called Nikola one of the most disrespected reigning MVPs he can think of.
denverpost.com/2022/01/11/nug… – 10:30 PM

Los Angeles Clippers @LAClippers
Pregame work.
🕢 7:30PM PT | 📺 @BallySportWest pic.twitter.com/7rAkZSxaLq – 10:10 PM

Michael Singer @msinger
Nuggets starters: Monte Morris, Austin Rivers, Aaron Gordon, JaMychal Green and Nikola Jokic.
Malone sees it, too. This will be J-Myke’s third straight game starting at PF. – 10:09 PM

Denver Nuggets @nuggets
First 5⃣ in LA!
#MileHighBasketball pic.twitter.com/u2GyuNJeKF – 10:08 PM

Law Murray @LawMurrayTheNU
Michael Porter Jr. underwent back surgery in December
Jamal Murray underwent knee surgery in April
Here they are getting shots up. pic.twitter.com/uwwD0ooIAm – 10:02 PM

Joe Mussatto @joe_mussatto
Per Tre Mann, Mike Muscala said before the game: “Let’s do it for Kenrich.”
Another sign of what Kenrich Williams means to the team. – 9:59 PM

Malika Andrews @malika_andrews
A welcome sight in https://t.co/gRkm0Q45t2 arena: Jamal Murray getting up shots. pic.twitter.com/p2e621RLvi – 9:56 PM

Denver Nuggets @nuggets
Almost time to get 𝐁𝐢𝐳𝐳𝐲 🦴 pic.twitter.com/meFUyNGMi1 – 9:50 PM

Harrison Wind @HarrisonWind
Pregame Lounge is live in 10 minutes. Me, @BrendanVogt, @DLineCo and @Duvalier Johnson.
– Nuggets/Clippers notes
– Could MPJ return this season?
– Male Form Corner
– Best @DKSportsbook bets
youtube.com/watch?v=oI3pL5… – 9:49 PM

Malika Andrews @malika_andrews
Michael Malone gave reporters a good laugh in his pregame comments. He said that Nikola Jokic may be one of the more disrespected MVPs. When asked why, he said: “Nikola Jokic is not sexy. His wife might disagree. But if you are a true student of the game you appreciate him.” – 9:43 PM

Los Angeles Clippers @LAClippers
What @Lexus Look are you sporting? 🔥 – 9:42 PM

Mark Medina @MarkG_Medina
Nuggets coach Michael Malone said that Nikola Jokic is still “disrespected” despite winning MVP last season. Malone: “Nikola Jokic is just not sexy. There’s nothing about Nikola…..” Malone pauses and then mused, “His wife might disagree…” – 9:41 PM

Denver Nuggets @nuggets
Will Barton (Health and Safety Protocols) is OUT for tonight’s game.
#MileHighBasketball – 9:39 PM

Mirjam Swanson @MirjamSwanson
With the second half of the season starting, Ty Lue reflects: “Being one game under .500, if you told me that PG would miss 20 games, Marcus would miss 20 games, Nico would miss 20 games, Kawhi not being here, I’d say that’s pretty fair.”
Looking back:
ocregister.com/2022/01/10/cli… – 9:35 PM

Brandon Rahbar @BrandonRahbar
Back to back wire to wire games that end in a last second loss for OKC.
SGA bounced back big with 32 points/8 assists/13-22 shooting.
Giddey continues rookie dominance with 18-6-8-2.
Bench Baze has one of his best games of the year.
Mann highlight plays.
Ideal Thunder game. – 9:30 PM

Los Angeles Clippers @LAClippers
Read up on tonight’s rematch. – 9:30 PM

Mark Medina @MarkG_Medina
Nuggets coach Michael Malone said Austin Rivers experienced “a scary incident” that resulted him going to an LA hospital last night. But Malone said Rivers has since recovered and available to play tonight vs Clippers – 9:26 PM

Andrew Greif @AndrewGreif
Wenyen Gabriel laughs pregame talking with his former Net and former Clipper teammate James Ennis. What a last month for those two. pic.twitter.com/0HHeLY2V9R – 9:17 PM

Malika Andrews @malika_andrews
Nuggets coach Michael Malone said Austin Rivers had a “scary incident” last night and was in the hospital. He had an allergic reaction and struggled to breathe. He’s able to play against the Clippers. – 9:15 PM

Harrison Wind @HarrisonWind
Michael Malone says Austin Rivers had an allergic reaction at practice the other day and had to go to the hospital. He was released yesterday evening and is good to go tonight. A “scary incident, per Malone. – 9:12 PM

Ryan Blackburn @NBABlackburn
Michael Malone just shared that Austin Rivers had an allergic reaction that made it difficult for him to breathe last night. He went to the hospital, was released, felt better this morning, and is good to go tonight.
Austin Rivers man…dude has been through hell this year. – 9:12 PM

Law Murray @LawMurrayTheNU
Michael Malone says that Austin Rivers was hospitalized last night after an allergic reaction during team activities at UCLA.
Rivers woke up and felt better, went through shootaround, and will be active tonight in LA. – 9:11 PM

Ohm Youngmisuk @NotoriousOHM
Michael Malone said Austin Rivers had a “scary incident” in which he had an allergic reaction and went to the hospital. Rivers is good to go tonight though. – 9:10 PM

Ohm Youngmisuk @NotoriousOHM
Michael Malone says Nikola Jokic is “one of the more disrespected MVPs” ever due to the lack of attention Jokic has gotten. “Nikola Jokic is not sexy. His wife might disagree. But if you are a true student of the game you appreciate him.” – 9:09 PM

Mirjam Swanson @MirjamSwanson
Malone: “Nikola Jokic is not sexy.”
Pause.
“His wife might disagree.” – 9:08 PM

Michael Singer @msinger
Michael Malone, asked about Jokic disrespect: “Nikola Jokic is not sexy. …. His wife might disagree.” – 9:08 PM

Vinny Benedetto @VBenedetto
“Nikola Jokic is not sexy,” Michael Malone out of context. – 9:08 PM

Harrison Wind @HarrisonWind
Michael Malone: “Nikola Jokic is not sexy. He’s just not. His wife might disagree. There’s nothing about Nikola that is sexy to people.” – 9:08 PM

Law Murray @LawMurrayTheNU
Michael Malone says that Nikola Jokic may be one of the most disrespected reigning MVPs.
Adds that Jokic’s picture would be next to the word consistency in a dictionary – 9:06 PM

Harrison Wind @HarrisonWind
Michael Malone on Nikola Jokic: “I think he is one of the more disrespected reigning MVPs that I can think of in terms of the attention that he gets.” – 9:05 PM

Michael Singer @msinger
Michael Malone calls Nikola Jokic one of the most “disrespected reigning MVPs” in history. – 9:05 PM

Mirjam Swanson @MirjamSwanson
Malone on a couple of former Clippers now on his team: “Great thing about guys like Rodney McGruder and James Ennis — they’re vets… they’ve been around the block.” – 9:04 PM

Mark Medina @MarkG_Medina
Nuggets coach Michael Malone on handling his fluid roster this season due to injuries and Covid pic.twitter.com/wr9xSCA6pQ – 9:04 PM

Ryan Blackburn @NBABlackburn
Michael Malone on Rodney McGruder and James Ennis:
“They’re vets. You could see in shootaround this morning…they pick things up very quickly. They’ve been around the block.” – 9:04 PM

Ryan Blackburn @NBABlackburn
Michael Malone says that Will Barton is OUT with Covid protocols. – 9:03 PM

Denver Nuggets @nuggets
Bright colors under the bright lights 💧
#ULTRADrip x #MileHighBasketball pic.twitter.com/MzHPBdeRzE – 9:00 PM

Law Murray @LawMurrayTheNU
Tyronn Lue says that it is possible that Amir Coffey or Nicolas Batum could remain starters once Paul George returns from injury. Sounds like he values the size on the wing. – 8:44 PM

Harrison Wind @HarrisonWind
Will Barton (health and safety protocals) is out tonight against the Clippers, per source. – 8:35 PM

Michael Singer @msinger
Will Barton will be out tonight due to health and safety protocols, I’m told. – 8:35 PM

Brandon Rahbar @BrandonRahbar
Corey Kispert is older than Lu Dort, Darius Bazley, Theo Maledon, Poku, Vit Krejci, Josh Giddey, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Tre Mann.
The Wizards rookie is older than over half the Thunder roster. – 8:22 PM

Brandon Rahbar @BrandonRahbar
Josh Giddey saw Tre Mann’s poster dunks and realized he had a teammate who could sky for lobs.
With absolutely zero research to back it up, gonna say that’s the best rookie to rookie alley oop of the season. – 7:47 PM

Oklahoma City Thunder @okcthunder
MANN OH MANN
@Josh Giddey ➡️ @Tre Mann pic.twitter.com/7WOvaQzVzj – 7:43 PM

Brandon Rahbar @BrandonRahbar
Tre Mann’s default setting is SportsCenter Top 10 highlight. – 7:42 PM

Jon Hamm @JonMHamm
Tre. Mann. pic.twitter.com/UzNtGXomb0 – 7:41 PM

Rylan Stiles @Rylan_Stiles
Oh my gosh, the Tre Mann step back gets me every time. So awesome. – 7:41 PM

Joe Mussatto @joe_mussatto
Tre Mann’s stepback remains fun to watch. – 7:41 PM

Rylan Stiles @Rylan_Stiles
Tre Mann with that elbow band becomes MJ – 7:25 PM

Ryan Blackburn @NBABlackburn
On NBA Today, Woj once again stated that it’s the Nuggets hope to get back both Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. before the end of this year. – 7:17 PM

Denver Nuggets @nuggets
Over/Under 26 assists for the squad tonight?
Sign up with @PointsBetUSA to receive your first bets risk-free up to $2K: bit.ly/3DlZTq7
#MileHighBasketball – 6:13 PM

Harrison Wind @HarrisonWind
Nuggets-Clippers tips at 8:30 p.m. MT tonight (7:30 p.m. in LA), just because it’s getting shown on NBA TV, a channel nobody gets. – 6:12 PM

Los Angeles Clippers @LAClippers
You heard @BJ Boston!
🗣️ GAME DAY, BABY! pic.twitter.com/BWT3GX5LRy – 6:03 PM

Ryan Blackburn @NBABlackburn
Will Barton has been upgraded to QUESTIONABLE after initially being considered out due to health and safety protocols. – 5:22 PM

Denver Nuggets @nuggets
Welcomed some new faces today 👋 pic.twitter.com/bhldEJvPj9 – 4:45 PM

Harrison Wind @HarrisonWind
Nuggets have upgraded Will Barton (health and safety protocols) to questionable tonight against the Clippers. – 4:35 PM