Oct 14, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Keaton Wagler (1) moves the ball against the Denver Nuggets during the first half at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
The Nuggets lost to the Los Angeles Clippers tonight in LA, but that’s not what anyone will be talking about tomorrow. Julian Strawther, who seemed to be turning a corner this preseason as he averaged an efficient 13.3 points-per-game off the bench went to the hardwood in the third with a knee injury that looked significant. No official report has been made yet, but the thoughts and prayers of Nuggets nation go out to Julian and his family tonight as we all hope for good news.
It wasn’t all bad news, though, as Trevon Brazile looked like he might be a viable contender for a rotation role as the 2nd-round big made an impact on both ends of the court.
Here’s how the game played out.
Oct 14, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) moves in for a shot against the Los Angeles Clippers during the first half at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
1st Quarter
The Nuggets took the reins early, racing out to an 18-6 lead. After Darius Garland’s and-one put the Clippers up 3-2, Denver ripped off a 13-0 run behind Jamal Murray, who scored 9 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the quarter including three layups and a step-back three. The lead ballooned to 21-6, but Jok picked up a third foul which seemed to ignite a Clippers 13-1 counter run that closed the lead the starters had built. The Nuggets’ free-throw shooting hurt them, too, as they went 3-of-9 at the line including Marvin Bagley III missing both of his late attempts.
Nikola Jokic with the lob to Christian Braun off the give and go, as Braun finishes the alley-oop layup.
Jamal Murray behind the back pass to Jokic, who finds Aaron Gordon for the corner 3.
7 assists for Jokic, still in the 1st half. pic.twitter.com/4ErPK3E5qt
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) October 15, 2026
2nd Quarter
The Clippers took the second quarter 34-31 and went to the half up 58-55, but the quarter had two distinct halves of its own. Denver’s all-reserve unit of Tyus Jones, Julian Strawther, Trevon Brazile, Cam Whitmore, and Bagley III won the first 4:28, going up 38-36 on three Julian Strawther threes. After the 7:32 timeout, both teams went back to their starters, and Denver briefly stretched the lead to 42-36 on a Jokić layup set up by Aaron Gordon’s fourth offensive rebound of the half followed by a Jamal Murray step-back.
The Nuggets then went five straight possessions without a point including three missed threes and two AG turnovers while the Clippers scored 9 unanswered on four Derrick Jones Jr. free throws (the second pair coming on Jokić’s fourth foul with 5:28 left), a Keaton Wagler step-back three and a Garland layup off his own steal. Denver called timeout at 4:39 down 45-42 but never got the lead back as the Clippers outscored them 20-6 in total—the last 6 coming on Rui Hachimura’s trey followed by three free throws on a bad Cam Johnson foul. Murray’s step-back three at the buzzer trimmed it to 3, but the huge early lead was squandered despite 14 points from Mal along with Julian’s 9 on 3-of-4 from distance.
Attention a bridge is being constructed and new infrastructure is being added here on Strawther island. We can see the huge influx of residents. Please be patient.
— D-Line (Denver Man) (@DLineCo) October 15, 2026
3rd Quarter
Denver opened the second half with the starters benched for the game, opting for a lineup of Bagley, Brazile, Strawther, Whitmore, and Jones. The group hung around and got within 68-67 on Cam Whitmore’s and-one with 8:25 left. But a Clippers 19-4 run over the next four and a half minutes all but ended the game, helped along by a flurry of Denver turnovers (8 in the quarter). As for Denver’s new bench rotation, Brazile was the best player on the floor. He scored 14 in just the third on 5-of-6 shooting, with 2-of-3 from three and back-to-back transition dunks off steals. In short minutes, Ryan Nembhard also had two steals and assists, both to Trevon. Whitmore also looked respectable, hitting 3-of-6 for 7 points, but he did miss a pair of free throws that would’ve cut the deficit to two.
Strawther was the (unfortunate) story of the game, though. Not because of his play (11 points, 2 rebounds on 3-7 from deep), but because he went down with what looked to be a bad knee injury at the 4:32 mark. As of the time of this piece, there’s no word on how bad the injury is, but it didn’t look good. David Adelman said after the game that the team didn’t know his status but would find out in the coming days.
PLEASE NO 💔 NOT STRAWTHER
PLS JULIAN BE OK! pic.twitter.com/GkKdNgpwKi
— Tatiana (@Tatianaclinares) October 15, 2026
The Nuggets closed out the quarter trading a Brazile three for a Pickett three and trailed 96-81.
4th Quarter
Denver won the quarter 29-26 with a lineup made entirely of reserves and camp invites, but never got closer than seven. It opened with Diallo, Nembhard, Hopkins, Holmes and Nnaji on the floor against the Clippers’ second unit. Two quick Nnaji buckets forced a Clippers timeout at 9:02 with the lead at 13, and Denver made its one real push after—a Whitmore step-back three, Holmes reverse layup, Hopkins and-one, and Whitmore running dunk made it 104-97 with 6:24 left. The Clippers answered with a Pickett layup and a Miller alley-oop, The Nuggets called timeout down 11 at 5:25 to try to mount a comeback, but Martinelli scored six straight Clippers points on three drives to push the lead back to 117-103. Denver emptied the bench at 3:17, and only DaRon Holmes could put up any kind of fight.
FINAL SCORE: Nuggets 110, Clippers 122
Nuggets rookie Trevon Brazile had an impressive showing tonight, nearly perfect game.
22 PTS, 2 REB, 8/10 FG, 0 TO, 90 TS%
Denver drafted him in the second round (Pick 35) pic.twitter.com/R37JRWS4yX
— Basketball Performances (@NBAPerformances) October 15, 2026
GAME NOTES:
Strawther’s preseason stats: 13.3 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 1.0 APG in 18.5 minutes, shooting 46% from the field, 43.5% from three (on nearly six attempts a game), and 83% from the line
Brazile finished the game with 22 points on 8-of-10 from the field including 3-of-4 from three in just 25 minutes
All 8 of DaRon Holmes points came in the 4th—basically garbage time—on 3-of-4 shooting and 2-of-2 free throws