Game 6 of the first-round series between the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets had all the makings of a star-driven showdown. The Clippers faced elimination on their home floor, and their big names delivered – James Harden dropped 28 points and Kawhi Leonard added 27 to force a 111-105 victory and send the series to Game 7.
But beyond the headline performances, it was veteran forward Nicolas Batum who emerged as the game’s unsung hero, impacting the outcome in myriad subtle ways. The 36-year-old’s modest stat line – 6 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks – doesn’t leap off the page, but his two-way contributions and veteran intangibles were crucial to the Clippers’ gritty win. In a game where every possession mattered, Batum’s imprint was everywhere, exemplifying the understated but vital role he plays for this team.
Batum’s biggest contribution came on the defensive end, where he helped solve the puzzle of defending Denver’s superstar center, Nikola Jokic. Giving up three inches and plenty of weight to the 6’11” Jokic, the 6’8″ Batum was part of a Clippers strategy to throw “smalls” at the Nuggets’ MVP. Along with center Ivica Zubac, Batum teamed up to hound the typically unguardable Jokic all night. The results were striking. Jokic, who had 20 points by halftime, managed only 5 points in the entire second half on 2-for-9 shooting. At one point, L.A. held Jokic scoreless for 11 straight minutes in the third quarter, a critical stretch when the Clippers seized control of the game. Batum fronted him in the post, poked at entry passes, and used his length to contest every shot.
This physical, swarming defense clearly frustrated Denver. Nuggets interim coach David Adelman even vented about the officiating afterward, noting that the Clippers “put smalls on [Jokic]” and those smaller defenders were “allowed to do whatever they want” physically. Adelman’s complaint underscored how disruptive Batum and the small-ball scheme had been. One of those very “smalls,” Batum, had delivered a “surprisingly effective defensive effort” that played a “major role” in turning Game 6 in the Clippers’ favor. By the end, Jokic was forced into tough fadeaways and uncharacteristic misses, unable to bully the savvy French forward consistently.
Batum’s defensive impact wasn’t limited to Jokic, either. His ability to guard multiple positions was on full display as he took turns checking Jamal Murray and even rangier forwards like Aaron Gordon when needed. In the final minutes, with the Nuggets furiously trying to rally, Batum made two of the biggest defensive plays of the night: he blocked a driving layup attempt by former Clipper Russell Westbrook and later swatted a corner three-point try by Gordon, snuffing out Denver’s last hopes. Those were two of Batum’s three blocks in the game, a testament to his excellent timing and effort on closeouts. “Nic Batum has been everywhere for the Clippers tonight!” the NBA’s official account tweeted during the game, highlighting how his presence was felt in every facet of defense. Indeed, whether it was scrapping for 50-50 balls, deflecting passes, or switching onto any Nugget who needed containing, Batum was the glue in the Clippers’ defensive scheme.
Perhaps no sequence better illustrated Batum’s impact than a span midway through the second half: With L.A. protecting a lead, Murray tried to attack Batum on a switch, only to be stymied by the veteran’s length and footwork – a stop that disrupted Denver’s rhythm. Moments later on the other end, Murray drove inside again, but this time Batum slid over to help, forcing a miss that Zubac rebounded. These kinds of plays don’t always show up in the box score, but they were pivotal in stalling Denver’s momentum whenever it threatened.
It’s telling that after the Clippers’ blowout win in Game 3 of the series, both Jokic and Murray had already taken notice of Batum’s defensive acumen. “He’s a great player. People forget how good he is,” Jokic said of Batum earlier in the series. “He’s definitely a threat from the three-point line and so versatile defensively and so smart – that helps them a lot.”Murray was even more direct, calling Batum the Clippers’ “X-Factor.” “Batum is crazy. He’s shooting no-dip threes, spacing really well, [and] full-court press – you don’t expect that,” Murray observed, marveling at the veteran’s energy. “His activity, his IQ… He’s been the X-Factor in my opinion.” When your opponents are volunteering praise for a role player, it speaks volumes. In Game 6, Batum lived up to every bit of that praise, making life miserable for Denver’s stars and proving to be the matchup solver Los Angeles needed.
While his defense was stellar, Batum’s offensive contributions were just as important in more understated ways. Clippers coach Tyronn Lue made a crucial adjustment at halftime, inserting Batum into the lineup to start the third quarter in place of point guard Kris Dunn. The reasoning was tactical: Dunn, a non-shooter, had become an offensive liability as the Nuggets were sagging off him and sending his man to blitz James Harden. Batum’s presence instantly changed that dynamic. “Batum is a more dangerous offensive player,” ESPN noted in its recap of the game, “and he’s versatile enough to stay with [Jamal] Murray, who torched the Clippers for 43 points in Game 5 but had only 21 in Game 6.”. In other words, Batum could fortify the defense without compromising the offense – exactly what Lue needed.
With Batum on the floor spacing the perimeter, the Clippers’ stars found more room to operate. Denver could no longer ignore Batum at the three-point line, as he’s a proven shooter with a quick, high release. In the first half, Denver’s help defense often swarmed Harden; in the second half, with Batum lurking as a kick-out option, those double-teams became riskier. Harden and Leonard took advantage by attacking single coverage and driving-and-kicking to the open man. Batum hit two timely three-pointers in the game, both off smooth ball movement where the extra pass found him open in the corner.
Even when he wasn’t taking shots, Batum was a hub for ball movement. Operating as a point-forward at times, he would swing the ball to the open man or make the pass that led to the assist, keeping the offense flowing. The box score credited Batum with 6 assists on the night, and many of them led directly to crucial buckets. Early in the fourth quarter, for instance, Batum grabbed a defensive rebound, pushed the ball up in transition, and delivered a bounce pass to Norman Powell cutting for a layup. Minutes later, he facilitated from the post, drawing a defender and kicking out to Powell again for a knockdown 3-pointer. He also fed Kawhi Leonard on a baseline cut for a two-handed dunk and found Derrick Jones Jr. on a drive-and-dish for a three.
The contrast between the first-half Clippers offense and the second-half version with Batum was stark. “Space to operate” was the phrase repeatedly used to describe what Batum provided Harden and Leonard. Indeed, with proper spacing, Harden was able to get into his rhythm – he scored seven points early in the third quarter as the Clippers surged ahead – and Leonard found lanes to attack without a crowd of Nugget defenders collapsing on him. The Clippers as a team put up 32 points in that third quarter, their best offensive period of the game, thanks in large part to the lineup change that featured Batum. “We took control in the second half while playing tenacious defense on Jokic,” Lue said, “and I give our guys credit for just staying with it.” Staying with it, indeed – Batum epitomized that mantra by filling whatever role was needed on a given play, whether that was spacing the floor, making the extra pass, or cutting at the right moment to occupy the defense’s attention.
By the end of the night, the Clippers had only made one field goal in the final six minutes (a clutch Powell three), yet they hung on to win with defense and smart clock management. During those tense final minutes, Batum’s steady decision-making was evident. Rather than forcing shots, he wisely pulled the ball out to burn clock when the play wasn’t there, and he helped handle Denver’s pressure without turning it over. Notably, Batum had 0 turnovers in 34 minutes of action, despite touching the ball frequently. Every time Denver threatened to seize momentum, Batum seemed to be in the right place to reset the possession or get a stop, exemplifying the basketball IQ that has kept him in the league for 15 seasons.
Beyond the tangible stats and X’s and O’s, Nicolas Batum brought an intangible lift to the Clippers in Game 6 that’s hard to quantify. This is a player who has seen it all – a former starter on playoff teams in Portland and Charlotte, a European champion with France, and now a savvy role player in Los Angeles. With the Clippers’ season on the brink, Batum played with a sense of urgency and confidence that spread to his teammates. He was constantly communicating on defense, pointing out rotations and matchups, and encouraging teammates after both good and bad plays.
Head coach Tyronn Lue had preached unity and selflessness to his squad before this elimination game – he even phoned several players the night prior to “make sure they were mentally ready to fight” and to instill positivity. Batum embodied that ethic perfectly in Game 6. He’s a former starter willingly coming off the bench, a proud veteran ready to do the dirty work so the stars can shine. “I told the guys after the game, it’s about being a team and whatever it takes to win,” Lue said, “Those guys totally understood it.”It’s easy to imagine Batum as the foremost of “those guys” – accepting a reduced scoring role, yet contributing to winning plays all over the court.
Consider this: Batum played nearly the entire second half as Lue rode the hot hand of his versatile veteran. Even when Zubac took a breather and the Clippers went ultra-small, Batum slid up to the nominal center spot, anchoring a small-ball lineup that managed to hold its own on the glass and protect the rim. And when Zubac returned for crunch time, Lue still kept Batum on the floor – a clear show of trust in his impact. That trust has been earned over time. Batum’s basketball IQ, honed through countless high-pressure games, allowed him to anticipate the Nuggets’ moves before they happened. Whether it was sniffing out a backdoor cut or knowing exactly when to double-team Jokic and when to stay home on shooters, Batum’s instincts were impeccable in this game.
His intangibles also showed in how he handled the moment. In a raucous Intuit Dome with 17,000 fans on edge, Batum was a picture of composure. He didn’t bite on pump fakes from Jokic, he didn’t rush his open three-point attempts, and he coolly sank those two free throws late in the fourth quarter to pad the lead. The Clippers outscored Denver by 11 points during Batum’s minutes (best plus-minus on the team after Leonard), a sign of how effectively he stabilized the game whenever he was on the court.
As the final buzzer sounded in Inglewood, Batum’s stat line read like a jack-of-all-trades checklist: a bit of scoring, a healthy dose of rebounds and assists, steals, blocks – even a drawn charge for good measure. Those numbers only hint at his true impact, though. In a game where the Clippers’ season hung in the balance, it was the understated brilliance of Nicolas Batum that helped tip the scales. He turned what could have been a Jokic coronation into a frustrated night for the MVP, and he turned the Clippers’ offense from cramped to free-flowing with one simple substitution. Call him a role player, call him a glue guy, call him the X-factor – whatever the label, Batum was indispensable.
