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.

The stakes couldn’t be higher as the Denver Nuggets return to Denver for a do-or-die Game 7 against the Los Angeles Clippers in their NBA Western Conference Playoffs series.

The 2025 NBA playoffs have delivered the most exciting first round in recent memory, and leave it to the West — which has brought high drama all season — to bring it home with two Game 7s this weekend. Nuggets vs. Clippers. Rockets vs. Warriors. Who will advance? Our NBA writers make their picks, plus look ahead to the East's semifinal matchups.