Final 3 04 WILD ENDING Nuggets at Clippers February 19 2026

And now Denver on top of the teeter-totter. Leonard draws a crowd. Matherin. Jones feeling good. Lances blocked 104 to 102. A whistle and a foul. He'll go to the line. And give Kawhi Leonard a lot of credit. Getting off the ball as soon as that double-team is there. And now that gives you the 3-on-2, 2-on-1 on the weak side. Again, letting the ego go. Saying that you as a star player have to make the shot. Instead of saying me as a star player have to make the right play. And make Denver pay for it. Take foul. Did they call it a take foul? Interesting that Kevin Cutler had signaled it early. Leonard at the free-throw line. Yeah. He pointed it out here near half court. So think about it, right? Jokic. Oh, he grabbed him. He grabbed him with the arm. But Murray is back. So it wasn't a clear pad. You know what I mean? With Murray being back. It's interesting. You know what I'm saying? But usually with a take foul. Well, it's interesting. The Clippers were already, the Nuggets were already over the limit. So you're just going to get the one free throw on that foul. And Kawhi shoots it down to get possession. But Kawhi shot it. Yeah. I'm not complaining. Oh, what a play. Matthew Hayes. It's emergency now from Denver. Plenty of time remains. Traffic inside. Collins can't. A whistle and a foul. And the beauty of being in the bonus. Jokic will go to the free-throw line for two. You want to make the right play. I know you want to get it. But don't allow the frustration of maybe not getting the basket and or a foul. Of course, you'd have to do this once you commit one on Jokic. Fifth ones and Jokic at the line. 17 points, 17 rebounds, and six assists in a game where I would say he has just been average. And I say that with the utmost respect. Clippers lead 107-103. His free throws, for what it is worth, the Clippers have outscored Denver by nine with Jokic on the floor. They've actually lost the Jokic, non-Jokic minutes, I should say. Kawhi with 149 to play. Three to shoot. Jones forces it up. And it went out of bounds off of Murray. But the shot clock expires and the ball goes back to Denver. The only good news there is the Clippers took 24 seconds off the clock. Murray on Lopez. That's an up and in. Incredible shot making by Jokic. He's got 20. It's a two-point game. Ten to shoot. This is what Jim's talking about. They haven't been able to get into the offense. Five to shoot. And a timeout for Ty Lue. One minute to play. He's a great teammate. Now the Clippers up against it with 4.6 on the shot clock. Lopez back to Matherin for the three. It's a two-point game inside of a minute to play. Whistles on either side are free throws. Jokic on Collins. Lopez is lurking. Jokic, the soft touch. It's good. And Jokic knew exactly what to do. He wanted to get that switch and get Lopez off of him and Collins onto him. Clippers need a bucket. Low key. What a debut for Benedict Matherin. 34 points off the bench in 33 minutes. Put the Clippers out in front by one. But what it is worth, the clock may favor the Clippers here. With 35 seconds remaining. The Clippers have a timeout. Denver has two. 1.07. It's going to be a long 35 seconds. I can tell you that. Jokic with the Denver Nuggets down by two. Drives out Lopez. We know how difficult it is to guard Jokic. But to be able to guard him without committing a foul is even more challenging. And Lopez did the correct thing, which was use his body, put his hands straight up, and force a tough shot by Jokic. One more coming. Big second half for Derrick Jones Jr. 20-22 here after intermission. New easy. Matherin. The Clippers have a timeout. And Tai Luz uses it here. Seconds to play. There are no timeouts remaining. Murray. Seconds to play. No timeouts. Matherin is fouled. And he'll go to the free throw line where he's had a steady diet. He's 10 of 11 tonight. 36 points in his home debut. I mean, watch this shot by Jamal Murray, okay? Run, stop, plant. No dribble whatsoever, okay? Just gather and shoot. But the ability to make shots at this level, man, is just incredible. It really is. There's a whole lot riding on these free throws. No timeouts. Next one. Nine seconds to play. This is the question. Is that too much time to foul so that the Nuggets don't shoot a three? Yeah, that 10 seconds. It's usually around five seconds. You like to kind of take it. 10 is a little bit more difficult. You know, you got to play the numbers. With Jokic so clever. Yep. Hands away. The first goal ball is done. Checks in. Lopez checks out. Matherin has endeared himself to the crowd here at Intuitol with his debut. 37. Murray with the Nuggets down three. Upon review, the contact occurs at point nine. Play will resume with three free throws. So now, Jamal Murray, big of a big game player as there is in the NBA. For years, his regular season stats never matched what he did in the postseason. Murray embraces moments like this, lives for moments like this. And now there's three. This one is going to be interesting. Make the first one on net. A little bit more pressure on the second one. And it's hard as long. And if you miss, usually it comes up a little short. He did miss a free throw like this about a month ago in this exact scenario to send the game into overtime.