Orlando (United States) (AFP)

Unsinkable Denver!

The Nuggets on the verge of elimination at the break with 16 points behind, reversed the situation to win (111-98) against deliquescent Clippers and snatch a 7th game which will be decisive Tuesday to advance to the Western Conference final .

What if they do it again?

The Nuggets were also down 3-1 in their first round play-off series against Utah, before going on three straight wins and qualifying.

Once again, with their backs to the wall facing LA, they are back to height and now doubt has completely changed sides.

No team in NBA history has yet managed to win two series in the same playoffs, having trailed 3-1 each time.

How to explain that the favorite Clippers - with the Lakers - for the title were able to lose all their means after having counted a lead so comfortable in the first period, and this for the second game in a row?

"We were playing very well, then we stopped playing, to move the ball. That's what put them back in the game. We have the right formula to beat them, we just lost it", analyzed coach Doc Rivers who will have to find other words to revive his players, otherwise a huge disillusionment awaits them.

Because opposite, Denver is never as strong and liberated as back to the wall.

The delay which even peaked at 19 points was erased in the 3rd quarter, especially after a 15-0 "run" which knocked out the Clippers who left their basketball and their fighting spirit in the locker room.

In the end, the Colorado team gave them a humiliating 64-35 in the second half.

- "No pressure" -

"Our effort was incredible. Last time we were 16 points behind, 16 also against Utah. It's not that we want it, but maybe we like it, we are good at making comebacks" , smiled Nikola Jokic after the match.

"We don't have any pressure, it's up to them. All we have to do is play at a high level and give our best," he added.

Serbian winger Nikola Jokic was still and always decisive, since he managed 34 points (14 rebounds, 7 assists).

The other engine of the team, Jamal Murray added 21 (5 rebounds, 5 assists), despite a sore body after a fall made heavier with an opposing player on him.

Opposite, Paul George was the locomotive for a long time with his 33 points (6 rebounds, 5 interceptions), but there were too many cars to drag ... Even Kawhi Leonard (25 pts, 8 rbds) seemed totally borrowed in the money-time where he usually restores compromised situations.

"They brought in baskets and not us. We just have to leave it all behind us, get back to communicating and playing hard in defense," he called.

He, too, will have to live up to his reputation as the "Terminator" in the tie-breakers if he is to lead the Clippers to a very first conference final in fifty years of existence.

Otherwise it will be the Nuggets who will discover this flavor and challenge the Lakers of LeBron James.

But for them, "it's just another Game 7 and we're ready to play it," Jokic warned.

© 2020 AFP