James Harden says the Clippers are a totally different team than what the Nuggets saw last

Los Angeles Clippers star James Harden knows what the Denver Nuggets bring to the table in a playoff series, but also knows how different his Clippers are from the last time Denver saw them

BY TRENT FINNEGAN

Apr 16, 2025, 8:32 AM Updated: 8:33 am

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The Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Clippers haven’t met since January 8, way before the NBA Trade Deadline. The Nuggets were in fourth place in the Western Conference on that day, while the Clippers were seventh, but the construction of both teams is much different now.

In that game, a 126-103 victory for the Nuggets, Nikola Jokic didn’t play, Dario Saric played 20 minutes, Jalen Pickett played four minutes and Michael Malone was still the head coach for Denver. On the Clippers side, Kawhi Leonard didn’t play while the team didn’t have either of Ben Simmons or Bogdan Bogdanovic.

“[We’re] a completely different team. Completely different team,” Clippers star James Harden said Monday. “I don’t even who was playing when we played [Denver]. We added [Bogdanovic], added Ben [Simmons], Kawhi healthy. It’s just a completely different team.”

The Clippers have lost just three games dating back to March 5, and have gone on a tear to jump all the way from a spot in the Play-In Tournament to the No. 5 seed. Having Leonard back and healthy is a key for the Clippers, as he’s been averaging 26.7 points per game in April on 53.8/50/85.7 shooting splits. On the outside, Bogdanovic, who is one of Nikola Jokic’s best teammates on the Serbian national team, is shooting over 55% from three in April as well.

This series is projected to as close to a coin flip as you can get, according to Fanduel Sportsbook. With the two teams not having met in over four months, and both looking much different than that last meeting, this is the hardest series to predict out of any in the first round of the NBA playoffs.