The first round matchup between the 4th-seed Denver Nuggets and 5th-seed Los Angeles Clippers was expected to be the toughest one in this year’s playoffs. Well, they definitely delivered on Sunday after a thrilling game 4 duel went down the wire. From in-game scuffles to miraculous game-winners, here are the highlights of the Nuggets-Clippers game 4 matchup and how Denver tied the series 2-2.
Nikola Jokic and Another Historic Night
Jokic was inside the court for 43 minutes and made the most out of it. In one of the wildest games in the first round of the 2025 playoffs, The Joker finished with another insane statline–36 points, 21 rebounds, and 8 assists–joining the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, and Elgin Baylor to be the only four players in NBA to ever record a 35+ points, 20+ rebounds, and at least 8 assists in a playoff game.
Jokic was one of the reasons why the Nuggets had a 22-point lead against the Clippers by the start of the fourth quarter.
Brawl Emerges on the Floor; Six Players Receive Technical Fouls
A skirmish was triggered in the final moments of the first half after Christian Braun and James Harden got tangled in a heated exchange. Their respective teammates responded, resulting to an all-out brawl.
Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun, James Harden, Norman Powell, and Kris Dunn were each handed with a technical foul. Because there were no closed fists thrown, the referees didn’t eject any player and allowed to continue the play.
Tension in the playoffs is really kicking in and things are getting chippy between Denver and LA, and this series is definitely going to become more exciting moving forward.
Aaron Gordon’s Buzzer-beater Dunk to Seal the Win
The Clippers were trailing for most of the game and were even down by 22 in the final quarter. However, Powell went nuts and made back-to-back threes to slowly bring them back up, igniting the roaring fans inside the Intuit Dome. With just a minute left to play, Bogdan Bogdanovic made one crucial basket to allow the Clippers to take their first lead of the game, 97-96.
After the momentum has shifted, it looks like the Clips are about to take over and secure a come from behind victory. Despite Jokic giving Denver the lead once again after his unstoppable Sombor Shuffle move, Zubac redeems himself and ties the game a tip-in with just eight seconds left.
In the final play, all eyes were on Jokic. With the time winding down, the Serbian superstar tried to pull off a heavily-contested hail mary from deep, which airballed. However, the Clippers failed to box out Aaron Gordon, who caught the ball on air and dunked it straight to the rim with less than a second left in the game clock. The referees reviewed the play but later confirmed that the basket counts. Clippers fans were left heartbroken after what would put them up in the series, 3-1.
