The Los Angeles Clippers (45 - 27) defeated the visiting Denver Nuggets (31 - 43) 105 - 90, Sunday afternoon at Staples Center. The Nuggets entered Sunday winners of three of their last four, while the Clippers had lost three of four, however the trends did not continue as the Clippers downed the Nuggets, defending home court and clinching a playoff berth for the fifth year in a row. Clippers sit comfortably in fourth place, 5 games ahead of Memphis, while Denver needs to go nearly perfect in the rest of its games in order to have a shot at eighth. The Nuggets' window of opportunity is closing, as they play two of their next three games on the road, where they are now 14 - 24. Six players scored in double digits, while 11 players logged over 10 minutes and no starters played more than 30 minutes for the Clippers as they used a sound team effort in the victory. DeAndre Jordan finished with 16 points, 16 rebounds, six blocked shots, two assists and two steals, while Chris Paul added 14 points, nine assists, six rebounds, one steal and one block, to lead the team. The Clippers shot 48 percent from the field and gave up 15 turnovers but also forced Denver into 15 turnovers, while holding them to only 39 percent shooting from the field and 24 percent from long range. The Nugget's bench out - scored their starters 62 - 28. D.J Augustin was solid in 34 minutes off the bench, with 18 points and 10 assists. Jusuf Nurkic added 19 points, seven rebounds and three assists, in 24 minutes off the bench. Gary Harris was the only starter to score in double digits, as he chipped in 11 points in 29 minutes. Next, the Nuggets host Dallas on Monday, in a game that can make or break either team's playoff hopes. The Clippers host the Celtics on Monday.
["TeamStat(G,'Clippers') has 48 Percentage of 3 points ,has 27 Percentage of field goals ,has 105 Losses ,has 45 Total points ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Nuggets') has 24 Percentage of 3 points ,has 39 Percentage of field goals ,has 43 Losses ,has 90 Total points ,has 15 Turnovers ,has 31 Wins ."]