NBA 2018-19: 3 Talking points from Los Angeles Clippers vs Denver Nuggets

In a matchup of the West's 2nd and 8th seeds, the Nuggets handed the visiting Clippers a ruthless 123-96 beatdown. The Clippers never led at any point in the game as they were treated to their fifth loss in the last ten games.

Hanging by a thread for playoff contention down at the eighth spot, the Clippers dropped to 33-28(0.541) on the season after their most recent loss. Now ten games behind the Conference leaders, the Warriors, in the standings, they are tied with the Spurs on the West leaderboard.

On the other hand, the imposing win for the Joker and his team meant that they are now just a game behind Golden State in the race to be the West's best. With just 23 games left in their regular season, Denver hosts a sturdy 41-18(0.695) win-loss record whilst eyeing a potential NBA Finals ticket this season.

Let's draw out a few key takeaways from this impressive win by Mike Malone's men over the pitiful Clippers.

#1 Paul Millsap and Nikola Jokic post solid double-doubles

Nikola Jokic is averaging near-triple-double numbers this season

Led by an All-Star in Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets can always find help at the center position of their court, be it on offense or defense. Despite being hindered by foul trouble on the road, Jokic managed to pull through for a double-double stat line of 22 points, 16 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 block on the night.

Millsap matched Nikola's numbers to a fairly large extent, putting together 21 points, 16 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks of his own. Coach Mike Malone acknowledged that the 33-year-old veteran was coming into own against LA, as he shot a dazzling 8-of-13 from the floor and pulled down five offensive rebounds while playing a game-high 32 minutes.

"Paul found the fountain of youth or something," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. "He's playing like a young Paul Millsap. He's flying around. We chart everything, Paul Millsap by himself, he contested 18 shots tonight. His energy is infectious for all the other guys. And Nikola obviously, we expect that from him every night. It's a good win."

#2 The Clippers' flop show from long-range; Denver's domination on the boards

The Clippers' three-point percentage is the 2nd best in the league.

For a team that makes almost 40% of their shots from deep, the Clippers were quite miserable from distance as they started 0-14 from beyond the arc in the blowout loss. Before the final buzzer, they had managed to shoot 3-of-21 from long-range, bringing their conversion down to a dismal 14.3% on the night.

Veteran shooting guard Lou Williams had a nightmarish 6-of-15 showing from the field, making just one of his five three-point attempts. Moreover, adding insult to injury was rookie starter Shae-Gilgeous Alexander's 0-9 shooting night, as he finished with just 1 point in 30 minutes of on-court time.

The Clippers allowed 12 offensive boards to the league's best offensive rebounding team, as they got outrebounded 56-38 on the whole. The LA Clippers average 45+ rebounds per game this season, but were clearly dominated in the paint by the surging Nuggets in this game

#3 4 Clippers starters score in single digits in 27-point loss

Danilo Gallinari is Clippers' leading scorer after Tobias Harris' departure.

Apart from Danilo Gallinari - who finished with 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting - the rest of the starters combined for all but 19 points in a game when the team needed all the help it could get. JaMychal Green and Lou Williams were the only players besides Gallinari to end up in double-digit numbers, scoring 13 and 24 points respectively.

The Clippers are known for high production despite not having big names on their roster, but ever since Tobias Harris' trade deadline steal by the Clippers, they are really finding it hard to shoot well and score at regular intervals.

Not able to control the pace and looking out of sorts for the most part of the ball game, LA couldn't capitalize one bit on Denver's 22 turnovers, and they need to improve massively on that front as they prepare to host the Dallas Mavericks next.