Paul Millsap Altercation Changed Game 5

Denver Nuggets forward Paul Millsap said his altercation with LA Clippers forward Marcus Morris changed the course of Game 5.

Transcript

00:00The Denver Nuggets didn't earn their first lead in Game 5 until half way through the 4th quarter,

00:04but according to veteran forward Paul Milsap, the game changed long before then.

00:08The Clippers were in control for much of the first half right in its contest,

00:12leading wire to wire and taking a 12-point lead into the break.

00:15However, just before both teams went to the locker rooms,

00:17Milsap and Marcus Morris got an altercation that resulted in Morris picking up a technical foul.

00:21After the game, Milsap cited the incident as the moment when things changed for the Nuggets,

00:26saying, quote,

00:27instead of running their mouths a little bit, they kind of woke us up.

00:29Another word is we're soft and, you know,

00:31we're not gonna let these guys come in and just push us around.

00:33I think that's what sparked it.

00:35We want to prove a point that we're not going to be bullied.

00:36We're not going to be intimidated.

00:38Now, Milsap led the charge for Denver in the third quarter,

00:40scoring 14 of his 17 points in the frame and trimming LA's lead down to 7

00:45as both teams approached the fourth quarter.

00:47Once that quarter came around, we know what happened.

00:49Denver took the lead, ended up winning the game by 6 as the Clippers blew a 16-point lead.

00:53But looking at this from a Clippers perspective,

00:56there's a lot more that went wrong in Game 5 than aggravating Milsap,

01:00but that was certainly a factor as well.

01:03LA's rotations at the end of Game 5 weren't great

01:06as Montrez, Harrell, and Lou Williams spent a little bit too much time on the court

01:10and Kawhi Leonard and Ibiza's Zubat spent too much time off.

01:13By the time they came back on, there was no stopping Denver's momentum of what they were doing.

01:17Fortunately, Game 5 was at the end of the series.

01:19The Clippers still have two games with the Nuggets away.

01:22Their margin for error has been reduced for sure,

01:25but LA can still afford to lose another game.

01:27It's not in their best interest, obviously, but it can still happen.

01:30I think they'll still win this series, but lose another game.

01:32Denver cannot. If Denver loses another game, the series is over. That's it.

01:35So LA's margin for error is reduced.

01:38It's not what we'd like to be right now, but it is better than Denver's, right?

01:42So Game 6 between the LA Clippers and Denver Nuggets will take place on Sunday,

01:45September 13th at 1 p.m. Eastern Time, and that game will air on ESPN.