The Denver Nuggets defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 115-103 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California, on Friday, continuing to lead the Western Conference with a five-game winning streak.

Reigning two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic sat out this game due to wrist injury. Though that meant the Nuggets missed a guy who averaged 24.9 points, 11 rebounds and 9.7 assists, the team, in coach Michael Malone's words, stayed "connected" to display surprising fighting capacity in LA.

For example, DeAndre Jordan had averaged only 14 minutes before Friday and had been criticized for his slowness and lack of focus. He started against the Clippers, played more than 26 minutes and, more importantly, delivered three assists in the first half by working in the high post.

Michael Porter Jr., whose main offensive duty has been catching the ball and shooting 3-pointers in his career, charged the paint much more often than usual on Friday night and went 7-for-8 there. Zeke Nnaji came off the bench to grab six offensive rebounds for the Nuggets.

Jamal Murray played nearly 40 minutes in Friday's game, the longest this season since he recovered from a torn ACL on his left knee in 2021. Scoring 24 points didn't seem impressive, but he kept targeting Ivica Zubac with his mid-range jump shooting ability. Every of the four triples Murray made took place at the clutch moment of the competition.

Six of the Nuggets' nine-player rotations on Friday had at least three assists, showing the team's will to move the ball quickly and make the extra pass to find better shooting opportunities. Generally speaking, they had none to fill in the position of Jokic, but everybody was doing a bit of Jokic's work to keep the system running like Jokic were there on the court.

By contrast, the Clippers' performance was not much different from the way it has been since Kawhi Leonard and Paul George joined hands in the team in 2019 summer: Counting on the stars to do most of the work while the rest of the team playing like worker bees. Since George still couldn't play because of hamstring injury, Leonard was expected to shoulder more duties, especially on the offensive front.

It might be too harsh on Leonard to say he underperformed on Friday night as he shot 10-for-17 in two-point field goals (FGs). He worked hard trying to get the rest of the team involved on the offensive end. However, the team needed him to score much more than 24 points when they faced the opponents as strong as the Nuggets.

Fairly speaking, Leonard was not the worst-performing one of the Clippers in Friday's game. The rest of the team went 10-for-26 behind the arc, almost encouraging the Nuggets to close in and cage Leonard. Committing 12 turnovers didn't seem too bad, but the whole team was slow and chaotic enough in getting back to defense to allow as many as 25 fast break points by the Nuggets.

The good news for the Clippers is that they can continue to believe things will get better when both Leonard and George are back in good health; the bad news is, the two have played only 95 games together in over three seasons.

Other games on Friday (away teams come first):

New Orleans Pelicans 116-110 Detroit Pistons

Jonas Valanciunas dropped a double-double of 33 points and 16 rebounds for the Pelicans to beat the Pistons at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan, on Friday, and maintain third in the Western Conference. He completely dominated the opponents' paint by going 11-for-12 there.

Having suffered their 34th loss this season, the Pistons managed to keep their position within the bottom three teams of the league. Staying there is integral for the them if they want to get the first-overall pick for the NBA Draft in June and add Victor Wembanyama to their roster.

Atlanta Hawks 113-111 Indiana Pacers

Buddy Hield made two free throws to tie the score 111-111 for the Pacers when there were 21 seconds left in the fourth quarter at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Friday. In the following possession, Trae Young missed a 3pointer; Dejounte Murray didn't make his jumper after getting the offensive rebound.

Then John Collins, who had gone 1-for-8 from the field in the game, generated his biggest highlight on Friday night by tipping the back into the basket for the Hawks. That play saved both him and the team, making sure that the efforts of draining 12 triples by Trae Young and De'Andre Hunter as well as the double-double of 18 points and 20 rebounds by Onyeka Okongwu didn't go to waste.

Golden State Warriors 144-113 San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs celebrated their 50th anniversary with an NBA single-game record attendance of 68,323 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, on Friday. The team's legendary center, two-time NBA champion David Robinson announced this memorable information to the crowd at the arena.

The Warriors witnessed this historic moment there in person and, more importantly, end their three-game losing streak with a big win. They had eight players score in double digits. Donte DiVincenzo was one of the best-performing players as he contributed 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists off the bench.

New York Knicks 112-108 Washington Wizards

Oklahoma City Thunder 124-110 Chicago Bulls

Phoenix Suns 116-121 Minnesota Timberwolves

Orlando Magic 108-112 Utah Jazz

Houston Rockets 114-139 Sacramento Kings