The Clippers won Game 2 at Ball Arena 105-102, and twice in the Nikola Jokic era the Nuggets have succumbed in a Game 7 at home, against Portland in 2019 and against Minnesota last year when Denver blew a 20-point second-half lead.

Columnist Dylan Hernández writes that James Harden looked nothing like the player with a reputation for stinking up arenas at this stage of the season.

Harden has 28 points and eight assists in a bounce-back performance, Kawhi Leonard scores 27 and the Clippers hold on for a 111-105 win to set up a winner-take-all showdown Saturday in Denver.