Inglewood, Calif. - James Harden rebounded from Tuesday's fifth quiet night to score 28 points in 10 of 20 shots. Kawhi Leonard won Game 7 rebounds in the first round of NBA playoff series after defeating the Denver Nuggets 111-105 in Game 6 Thursday night, and the Los Angeles Clippers forced their first round of NBA playoff series game seven.

Norman Powell scored the most effective game in the series, scoring 24 points for the Clippers, who bounced back to back losses with the effort of the new Intuit Dome. Los Angeles got under control in the second half of a tough defense against Nikola Jokic, who scored 20 points in the first half.

Game 7 was held in Denver on Saturday.

The Clippers did it on Thursday and made sure he had room for a key roster change at the end of the half. Clippers coach Tyronn Lue inserted Nicolas Batum and started the second half to defensive Kris Dunn, who was responsible for offense as Denver broke away from him and often sent his defender to lightning as he caught the ball. Batum is a more dangerous offensive player who is versatile enough to align with Denver guard Jamal Murray, who burned the Clippers 43 points in Game 5 but only 21 points in Game 6.

Harden scored 46 in 48 minutes on Thursday, a lot of work, but the Clippers faced elimination and Harden was important to their success.

Harden's victory was the first knockout game Harden won since Game 7 of the first round of the playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2020.

The victory also happened the night before the Los Angeles victory, after Lue called all his players to make sure he heard the enthusiasm and belief in the voices of the players. He didn't want to take anything for granted after the Clippers folded Tuesday, saying he "spent a lot of warmth" to make sure they were mentally ready to fight for the playoffs.

"I made a lot of calls," Lu said. "A lot of calls. Just talk to these people and stay positive. Make sure they know we're not doing the best (in Game 5) and we're not paying good attention to the details."

The Clippers won eight consecutive victories to the playoffs, and 18 of 21 games won the call for Game 6.

Los Angeles had less than six minutes of the game, but Denver lowered the Clippers' lead to 107-101 with 11-2, then Powell had three points left and 1:47 left.

Powell's clutch barrel was Los Angeles' only shot in the final 5:57, but the clip continued to defend. Russell Westbrook missed a layup under pressure and suffered consecutive layups in the last few minutes, while Zubac had 24 seconds left to block Jokic's layup attempt.

The Associated Press information is used in this report.