The Denver Nuggets fell back to .500 in the preseason.
Denver won 116-103 against the LA Clippers in the first of two games in Los Angeles. The Clippers built a lead of nearly 20 points late in the third quarter and never looked back.
The Nuggets are essentially without all of their starters, who are resting after playing the first three games of the preseason. Without Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, interim coach David Adelman brought in a starting lineup of Reggie Jackson, Julain Strawther, Peyton Watson, Justin Holiday and DeAndre Jordan.
Rookie Hunter Tyson was Denver's strong man against the Clippers. Tuesday was his best performance of the preseason, finishing with 19 points on 50% shooting.
The Clippers across the board shot well from the field and made 56.1 percent of their shots and 35.7 percent of their three-pointers. Paul George led the way for Los Angeles with 23 points and nearly 70 percent shooting in 18 minutes of play.
The rookies looked very comfortable in the first half. Strawther had a game-high 7 points in the first quarter, then Tyson came alive in overtime and in the second quarter with 7 points of his own. Reggie Jackson was strong in the first 24 minutes of the game and scored 12 points on 5 of 9 shooting.
However, the story of the first half was Los Angeles' Paul George, who scored 23 on 9-of-13 shooting in 18 minutes. After George's first-half burst, the Clippers took a 60-51 lead.
The Clippers increased their lead in the third quarter. Although Denver held the first part of the quarter, LA went on a 14-5 run in the last four minutes of the game to make it a 19-point game. The Clippers entered the fourth quarter with a 91-72 lead. They never gave up this advantage.
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