DENVER — The Denver Nuggets will host the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs after securing the No. 4 seed in the conference with a win Sunday in Houston.
Denver cruised to a 126-111 win over the Houston Rockets, who had long been locked into the No. 2 seed in the West. Six Nuggets scored in double figures – including five scoring between 16-19 points – and all five starters grabbed exactly 7 rebounds in a balanced win on the road.
The Nuggets were up by 13 at halftime and used a 10-2 run, with five points from Gordon to make it 86-63 with about five minutes left in the third quarter. The Rockets pulled their starters after that big run.
Denver moves to 3-0 since it fired Michael Malone as head coach and Calvin Booth as general manager with just days remaining in the season.
The Clippers secured the No. 5 seed with a road win of their own Sunday, holding off the Golden State Warriors in overtime in San Francisco.
This all comes as the dust settles from a chaotic end to the season in a tight Western Conference. The Nos. 4-10 seeds in the conference were undecided entering Sunday’s regular season finale.
With Sunday’s results, the Minnesota Timberwolves earn the No. 6 seed and a date with the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round. The Warriors drew a berth in the play-in tournament.
The Nuggets and Clippers split four games during the regular season. Denver won the last two matchups – on Dec. 13 and Jan. 8 – by a combined 45 points, 120-98 and 126-103, respectively.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Severe storms begin to pick up Tuesday heading into the evening hours
Skies will begin to turn stormy and unsettled as early as the lunch hour. That's when we expect the first round of storms to develop along the Front Range. For the Pikes Peak Region and I-25 corridor, our main window for severe weather will come between 1-6 pm.
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