Tyronn Lue and the Los Angeles Clippers exited the playoffs in disappointing fashion, falling 120-101 to the Denver Nuggets. Despite entering the postseason on a hot streak—winning 18 of their final 21 regular-season games—and extending the series with a dominant Game 6 win, the Clippers couldn’t carry that momentum into Game 7. James Harden struggled once again, offering little help to Kawhi Leonard as LA’s season came to a frustrating end.

“It’s encouraging,” Tyronn Lue said following the Clippers' season-ending loss on Saturday night.

“I think James having to carry such a heavy load with Kawhi missing 45 games and just having to carry that load all season long, he did a great job with that. And I think Kawhi, coming back and having the confidence in his knee that he can play more minutes, he can get through these games. And those two together for a whole season, I think, would be tremendous.”

Harden struggled mightily, finishing with just seven points on 2-of-8 shooting. Leonard led the way for the Clippers with 22 points, helping them take a narrow 26-21 edge after the first quarter.

“So when you have your best player missing (45 games), it’s kind of hard to really jell the way we wanted to. But I thought we did a good job of just sticking with it. And whatever we needed to do to win that night, they did it,” the Clippers head coach continued.

The Denver Nuggets dismantling the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 7

Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) and Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden (1) react during the second half against the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center.
Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images
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Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) and Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden (1) react during the second half against the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center.
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What looked like a back-and-forth battle early on quickly turned into a rout. After the teams traded punches in the first quarter, the Nuggets seized momentum by dropping 37 points in the second. Denver kept its foot on the gas coming out of the break, ripping off a 15-0 run in the third quarter that blew the game open and extended the lead to 75-50.

The Nuggets entered the fourth quarter with a commanding 93-66 lead, and even after Nikola Jokic picked up his third, fourth, and fifth fouls late in the third and took a seat, the Clippers still couldn’t cut into the deficit in any significant way.

Denver built a lead as large as 35 points, dominating the paint 54-42 and outrebounding the Clippers 46-36. They also capitalized on second-chance opportunities, scoring 22 points to L.A.’s 10.

The Clippers wrapped up their first season at Intuit Dome with a disappointing first-round exit, a result that underscored a harsh truth: as long as James Harden and Kawhi Leonard remain their top options, this team may be stuck. Both stars are well past their peak, and the window for true contention appears to be closing fast.

The franchise's challenge will be maintaining its competitive edge while staying prepared to make the best long-term decisions. For now, that means continuing to build around Harden and Leonard.

The Nuggets advanced despite a chaotic end to their regular season, which saw David Adelman step in as interim head coach after the team dismissed Michael Malone with only three games remaining.