Nikola Jokić and Kawhi Leonard will face off on in Game 7 on Saturday.
Denver and LA have given basketball fans an absolute treat of a first-round series, and they’re ready to put the cherry on top of it in the first Game 7 of the 2025 NBA playoffs on Saturday night. The Nuggets will have the luxury of home-court advantage in the deciding matchup, but the Clippers know what it takes to win on the road after taking Game 2 in Ball Arena.
For Denver, everything starts and ends with Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray. When playing inside the friendly confines with an excited home crowd, Murray has seemed unstoppable. In those three games, he leads the Nuggets with 29.0 points on shooting splits of 52.4% FG / 51.7% 3PT / 85.7% FT, along with 5.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.7 steals in 43.4 minutes. What’s more important is that he owns a team-best +11.3 plus-minus rating.
Murray has been stellar in the postseason overall, as he’s averaging 24.0 points, 6.5 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 1.3 steals in six contests. However, when he’s confident and feeling it, like in Game 5 when he dropped 43 points, Denver’s lead guard can change the tide in a hurry. Interim coach David Adelman will look to get the two-man game between his two stars going early and often to set the tone.
Although Jokić is averaging a triple-double in the series (25.3 points, 11.8 rebounds, 10.5 assists), he’s had more success getting his teammates involved on their home floor (9.7 assists on road, 11.3 at home). Aaron Gordon (20.7 PPG) and Russell Westbrook (16.7 PPG) have been the two biggest beneficiaries of the Joker’s vision and quality looks.
Michael Porter, Jr. is another player who should benefit from being back in Denver. He’s struggled to the tune of 9.0 points on 40.0% shooting and 33.3% from behind the arc in three losses, but his numbers jump to 11.3 PPG on 48.0% shooting and 57.1% from 3 in their three wins (10.7 PPG on 54.5% 3P at home).
As for the Clippers, coach Ty Lue will have to rely on James Harden, Kawhi Leonard and Norman Powell to advance to the Western Conference semifinals. The trio combined for 79 points in the must-win Game 6 on Thursday night in LA, a formula that’s been working for the Clips in this back-and-forth series.
Kawhi is healthy and has looked like his vintage 2019 self, posting 29.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists on splits of 56.9% FG / 42.9% 3P / 85.7% FT in LA’s three victories. In three losses, he put up 22.0 points on 51.9% shooting and 33.3% from 3. Leonard is a superstar and the leader of his team, so expect Lue to dial up plays for the two-time NBA champion to be assertive and get to his spots on the floor.
Harden knows it’s win or go home, with even more pressure in a Game 7 on the road. ‘The Beard’ went off for 28 points and 8 assists in the 111-105 win in Game 6, and he’ll have to keep an aggressive mentality on the offensive end to give LA their best chance at moving on to the Semis.
Powell has been the X-factor for the Clippers, and it could be the same story on Saturday. In his three appearances at the Intuit Dome, the ninth-year guard is LA’s second-leading scorer with 22.0 PPG while shooting 57.5% overall and drilling 40.9% of his 7.3 3-point attempts a night. Playing in the mile-high altitude in Denver has been a different story, as he’s averaged just 12.3 points on 39.5% from the field and 33.3% from 3-point range. Harden and Leonard will be tasked with creating open, advantageous looks for their shooting guard.
Ivica Zubac was incredible during the regular season, and he’s turned it up a notch in the playoffs. After putting up a career-high 16.8 points in 80 appearances, Zubac has pushed it to 18.7 points on 68.1% shooting in six postseason outings.
However, it’s not Zubac’s scoring that the Clippers should be focusing on in Game 7, but rather his defense. Guarding Nikola Jokić is no easy ask for anyone, but Zubac has done a solid job against Jokić without relying on double-teams. Jokić is 22-for-39 (56%) versus every other LA player and is 31-for-69 (45%) with Zubac as his primary defender.
Ty Lue and his coaching staff will try to go one-on-one against Jokić as much as possible. The idea is to make it hard for him to find and get his teammates involved while simultaneously forcing him to be a scorer. If they can stick to this plan of attack while putting Zubac on an island, it’ll allow Leonard, Harden and Powell to remain fresh on offense.
This series has been remarkably entertaining throughout, starting with an overtime game in the opener and following it up with intense, close games. Game 7 should be no different. Catch the action Saturday at 7:30 Eastern.
