{"id":609369,"date":"2026-02-18T07:28:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T07:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/609369\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T07:28:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T07:28:15","slug":"jokic-and-the-nuggets-visit-conference-foe-los-angeles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/609369\/","title":{"rendered":"Jokic and the Nuggets visit conference foe Los Angeles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"true\" data-v-d04fc069=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/nba\/denver-nuggets-team\" class=\"entity\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Denver Nuggets<\/a> (35-20, third in the Western Conference) vs. Los Angeles <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/nba\/los-angeles-clippers-team\" class=\"entity\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Clippers<\/a> (26-28, 10th in the Western Conference)<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"true\" data-v-d04fc069=\"\">Inglewood, California; Thursday, 10:30 p.m. EST<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"true\" data-v-d04fc069=\"\">BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Nuggets -4.5; over\/under is 225.5<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"true\" data-v-d04fc069=\"\">BOTTOM LINE: Denver faces Los Angeles in Western Conference action Thursday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"true\" data-v-d04fc069=\"\">The Clippers are 16-16 in Western Conference games. Los Angeles has a 13-20 record against opponents over .500.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"true\" data-v-d04fc069=\"\">The Nuggets are 20-9 against Western Conference opponents. Denver currently has the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/nba\" class=\"entity\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">NBA&#8217;s<\/a> top offense with 120.4 points while shooting 49.5%.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"true\" data-v-d04fc069=\"\">The Clippers&#8217; 12.7 made 3-pointers per game this season are just 0.6 fewer made shots on average than the 13.3 per game the Nuggets allow. The Nuggets average 8.1 more points per game (120.4) than the Clippers allow their opponents to score (112.3).<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"true\" data-v-d04fc069=\"\">The teams play for the third time this season. The Nuggets won the last matchup 122-109 on Jan. 31. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/nba\/nikola-jokic-player\" class=\"entity\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Nikola Jokic<\/a> scored 31 points to help lead the Nuggets to the win.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"true\" data-v-d04fc069=\"\">TOP PERFORMERS: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/nba\/kawhi-leonard-player\" class=\"entity\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kawhi Leonard<\/a> is averaging 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.1 steals for the Clippers. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/nba\/john-collins-player\" class=\"entity\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">John Collins<\/a> is averaging 16.3 points over the last 10 games.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"true\" data-v-d04fc069=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/nba\/jamal-murray-player\" class=\"entity\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jamal Murray<\/a> is averaging 25.7 points and 7.6 assists for the Nuggets. Jokic is averaging 17.1 points over the last 10 games.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"true\" data-v-d04fc069=\"\">LAST 10 GAMES: Clippers: 6-4, averaging 110.0 points, 41.4 rebounds, 23.7 assists, 8.2 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 49.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 107.0 points per game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"true\" data-v-d04fc069=\"\">Nuggets: 5-5, averaging 117.2 points, 44.6 rebounds, 27.2 assists, 6.7 steals and 4.6 blocks per game while shooting 48.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 115.5 points.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"true\" data-v-d04fc069=\"\">INJURIES: Clippers: Bradley Beal: out for season (hip), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/nba\/darius-garland-player\" class=\"entity\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Darius Garland<\/a>: out (toe).<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"true\" data-v-d04fc069=\"\">Nuggets: Spencer Jones: day to day (concussion), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/nba\/tamar-bates-player\" class=\"entity\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tamar Bates<\/a>: out (foot), Aaron Gordon: out (hamstring), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/nba\/jalen-pickett-player\" class=\"entity\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jalen Pickett<\/a>: day to day (knee), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxsports.com\/nba\/peyton-watson-player\" class=\"entity\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Peyton Watson<\/a>: out (hamstring).<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"true\" data-v-d04fc069=\"\">___<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" use-external-image=\"true\" data-v-d04fc069=\"\">The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Denver Nuggets (35-20, third in the Western Conference) vs. Los Angeles Clippers (26-28, 10th in the Western Conference)&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":156982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3789],"tags":[7,559,791,187,78812,1361,762,6971,529,4034,192,4032,251,135,4033,4031,1407,6,253,1146,6254],"class_list":{"0":"post-609369","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-clippers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-clippers","10":"tag-darius-garland","11":"tag-denver-nuggets","12":"tag-event_preview","13":"tag-jalen-pickett","14":"tag-jamal-murray","15":"tag-john-collins","16":"tag-kawhi-leonard","17":"tag-la","18":"tag-la-clippers","19":"tag-laclippers","20":"tag-los-angeles","21":"tag-los-angeles-clippers","22":"tag-losangeles","23":"tag-losangelesclippers","24":"tag-national-basketball-association","25":"tag-nba","26":"tag-nikola-jokic","27":"tag-peyton-watson","28":"tag-tamar-bates"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116090459335727174","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}