Kawhi Leonard leads Clippers’ rout of Nuggets for series lead

Kawhi Leonard recorded 21 points, 11 rebounds and six assists and the Los Angeles Clippers took a 2-1 series lead with a convincing 117-83 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night at Inglewood, California
James Harden had 20 points – all in the first half – to go with nine assists and six rebounds, while Norman Powell also scored 20 for the fifth-seeded Clippers. Ivica Zubac registered 19 points and nine rebounds as Los Angeles won its second straight in the best-of-seven, first-round series.
Denver star Nikola Jokic recorded 23 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists for his 20th career postseason triple-double. Jamal Murray also scored 23 points and Aaron Gordon added 15 points and seven rebounds for the fourth-seeded Nuggets.
“We got to build off of this,” said Clippers coach Tyronn Lue.

“It’s only two (victories). Today, I liked our approach and I like what we did defensively. It’s still going to be a tough series.

It’s not over because we had a blowout. It’s only one (game). So we have to be ready to come out on Saturday.”
Game 4 is Saturday night on the Clippers’ home floor.
Russell Westbrook (left foot inflammation) sat out the second half for Denver.
The Clippers shot 48.2 percent from the field, including 18 of 39 from 3-point range.

Nicolas Batum had 12 points and three blocked shots, and fellow reserve Derrick Jones Jr. had 10 points. Los Angeles held a 48-38 rebounding advantage.
Denver made 40.3 percent of its attempts and was 7 of 26 from behind the arc.
Harden and Batum each made three 3-pointers in the first half and Los Angeles was 12 of 22 from deep to hold a 65-47 halftime lead.
“We got a contribution from everybody,” said Harden.