The Nuggets And Clippers Nearly Broke Out Into A Brawl After Aaron Gordon Tried To Fight James Harden

Luke Hales. Getty Images.

The Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers have been playing what has been by far one of the most entertaining series of this NBA's first round. It's the one matchup that I think everyone is hoping goes the distance, simply because we as fans deserve as much of this battle as possible. These two teams clearly hate each other, and once you have a series with real genuine distaste, then you're really cooking with gas.

In today's pivotal Game 4, it's no surprise that it didn't take long for the bad blood to boil over

Now this is what I'm talking about! This is the playoff intensity I'm looking for! We went from a typical NBA "HOOLLLLDDDD MEEEE BAAACKKK" situation to somewhat of an actual fight/scrum. This wasn't quite Malice At the Palace, but I'll take it. At least it looked like Aaron Gordon wanted the smoke and was willing to throw hands. Why he got that upset, I have no idea. He's very lucky that he didn't get ejected given how crucial he is to the Nuggets in such an important game. He sort of reminded me of Isaiah Stewart going after LeBron

At the same time, credit to James Harden for also not backing down. He seemed ready to scrap as well, which I respect. Maybe he knew nothing was going to happen, but he didn't back down in that moment so he deserves credit for that in my opinion. Maybe send a duffle bag of cash to Zubac as a thank you for the blocking he did on Gordon to prevent him from getting to Harden. That was a technique that gets you selected on Day 1 of the NFL draft, and honestly he should be allowed to add that to his MIP award case. 

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When you add this moment to when Jamal Murray tried to pick up Norman Powell

this is the type of hatred that makes for a great playoff series. If the Nuggets can find a way to leave LA with a split, you have to think this is going 7 games. I don't know how anyone outside of DEN/LAC fans couldn't be rooting for that, because it feels like shit is about to truly boil over. A hard foul here or a shetcky play there, and the next thing you know, we won't just have a HOLD ME BACK type of situation on our hands. Emotions can run high in a tightly contested playoff series, and it sure feels like that's where we're headed.