Game 1 was pretty one-sided, and it looked like a full preview of how the series will turn out. The Denver Nuggets will simply have to dig deep to avoid another beating.

Catch Game 2 on September 6th, at 9:00 AM (Manila time).

HOME TEAM: #2 LA Clippers (1-0)

The Clippers feasted on the Nuggets in Game 1 with an easy 120-97 win. It was their third-straight victory following that buzzer-beating loss to Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks back in the first round. The gut-wrenching defeat might’ve woken the team up as they are scoring 128.3 points per game with an averaging winning margin of 26.6 points in that stretch.

Kawhi Leonard, who’s pouring in 32.3 PPG in the postseason, continued asserting his dominance in the series-opener as he scored 29 and shot a smooth 12-for-16 from the floor. He barely broke sweat easing past Nugget defenders so watch out for similar numbers moving forward.

No one other than Kawhi is scoring well, not even co-All-Star Paul George, who’s only at 17 PPG on 37% shooting in his last two. However, considering the hot run and the Game 1 thrashing they gave, the Clipps are in excellent shape.

ROAD TEAM: #3 Denver Nuggets (0-1)

It’s obvious that the Nuggets are still drained from their 3-1 comeback in the first round. They had no legs and any kind of energy to match the Clippers in Game 1. After ending up in 31-31 tie at the end of the first quarter, they got outscored in the next two periods, 60-36, and it was over at that point.

Further, no Nugget scored more than 15 points and the team collectively went a horrid 9-for-36 from three – try winning against a loaded opponent with those numbers.

The slightly good news out of all of that is it’s easy to expect something better for Game 2 because it’s tough to be worse than that. Then again, can they really be better if they haven’t truly rested? They’ll be in their ninth game over the last 19 days, which is particularly rough in the current context as it includes the different rigors of a gruelling seven-game war.

All-Star Nikola Jokic and the recently blazing Jamal Murray coming back to life is the obvious, number one key, but defense will be just as important. Denver is allowing 114.2 PPG in the playoffs, the most among all the remaining teams.

PREDICTIONS:

The Clippers should be able to ease past the Nuggets again. Kawhi is locked in and no one is yet to show any semblance of ability to slow his play.

Jokic and Murray will be better than combining for 27 points, but the Clipps got this, 118-108.