Denver Nuggets Face Defeat to The L.A. Clippers, I Guess

The Denver Nuggets lost by a big deficit and I wish I could say it was because they were outplayed but I can’t. The LA Clippers prevailed 132-111.

The Clippers played well but it was sort of hard to tell with such terrible, inconsistent officiating. We have seen some extremely poor officiating so far this year but this was one for the books. The ticky-tack calls on the Denver Nuggets and absolute silence from the other end of the floor was apparent in the beginning of the game but it just went from bad to worse as it progressed.

Getting a whistle time after time when the offended party was not even touched has got to be one of the most frustrating things to deal with in the game. It was infuriating to watch and it didn’t make the Denver Nuggets momentum any better, we know that.

I’m not sure how we are supposed to believe they are able to see such detailed things in the heat of the game but not catch guys jumping into other guys or see that someone was actually not touched even though they flail their limbs.  When will the flopping stop paying off? Is it really something that they can’t see on the floor because it looks more than obvious from the pulled back view of the television spectator. The officiating body has acknowledged that James Harden‘s Euro step-back is traveling but still not called.  They managed to catch Nikola Jokic slightly lifting his pivot foot, though. Things that make you go hmmmmmmmmm.

The real kicker of the whole deal was when a struggling Nuggets team received an ejection.  Not one that came after a warning (as per usual) or because of a flagrant foul but just sort of out of the blue.  Nikola Jokic was ejected from the game in the third quarter for a negative response to a call as far as I can tell.  The sort of thing that happens about 30 times in a game and defiantly happened with others during that time. Others who were not punished with ejection.

Is it irony that L.A. coach Doc Rivers said that “ejection defense” was part of their ‘game plan’?  Seemed oddly convenient. Anyway, it was super funny. I enjoyed it but I also liked him eating it on the sideline at the Dallas game.

The Clippers shot well with percentages being in the 50’s for the game and the Nuggets couldn’t throw a pea into the ocean.  It’s difficult to say if the game were officiated fairly what would have been because the Denver crew weren’t playing their best. Not even for the hobbled squad that they currently are.

Catch the Nuggets meeting the Spurs in San Antonio on the day after Christmas!