While the All-Star Game infrastructure figures to be gone by the time the Los Angeles Clippers play host to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday, much of the momentum is expected to remain.
Both teams will resume the post-break portion of their schedule when they meet at Inglewood, Calif., the site of last weekend’s All-Star festivities.
While the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray started for Team World, the Clippers’ hometown hero Kawhi Leonard stole some of the spotlight as a starter for USA Stripes.
Leonard scored 31 points against Team World during a 12-minute “game” that allowed USA Stripes to play for the title in the three-team tournament against USA Stars. In the title game, USA Stripes fizzled as a tired Leonard missed all four of his shots from the floor while scoring one point.
“I was happy for him, just to be in our arena, in our building and play the way he did. It was good,” Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said. “The crowd was really into it. They were going crazy. Even his teammates were going crazy about it. It was good to see.”
Leonard’s scoring burst looked similar to what he has shown while leading the Clippers to a revival since just before Christmas. Los Angeles started the season 6-21, but since Lue turned Leonard loose, they are 20-7.
The Clippers are 10th in the Western Conference and hold the last play-in spot with two months left in the regular season. However, they will proceed without James Harden, who was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers at the deadline for Darius Garland, whose toe injury has delayed his team debut.
So how can Los Angeles continue its surge?
“Just the same thing we have been doing, with the effort, staying competitive, wanting to compete every night, pushing the pace, rebounding,” Leonard said. “That has been what we have been doing the last couple of weeks.”
Jokic only saw five minutes of action in the All-Star Game and didn’t score a point. Murray shot 0-for-6 without scoring in one 12-minute game and had eight points in another.
Denver resumes play in third place in the Western Conference, 3 1/2 games behind the second-place San Antonio Spurs and 6 1/2 games behind the first-place Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Nuggets were just 2-4 heading into All-Star weekend in a stumble that started after a 122-109 home victory over the Clippers.
Jokic might not have much love for the All-Star Game, but he showed just how much the regular season matters to him with four consecutive triple-doubles before the break. He has 184 in his career, second most all-time behind former teammate Russell Westbrook.
Aaron Gordon (hamstring) has missed the last nine games, while Peyton Watson (hamstring) missed the past three. Denver still put together a 122-116 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies before the break started.
“I’m not concerned,” Nuggets head coach David Adelman said of the team’s recent form. “We had some guys that were exhausted.
“We wanted to get a win going into the break. And that’s what they did. The guys toughed it out. … All these guys need a break, not just from basketball but from each other (and) from me.”
