Inglewood, Calif. (AP) - Denver Nuggets interim coach David Adelman was frustrated and angry at the contact allowed by officials, while the Los Angeles Clippers defended Nikola Jokic in Game 6 of the first-round playoff series Thursday night.

The Clippers’ physical defense is the main reason Denver goes home to play another game.

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Adelman and Jokic are confident that the Nuggets will return to the season on the edge.

Adelman lost 111-105 to Denver's 111-105 in Game 6.

“Nicholas were fouled a lot,” Adelman said. "I'm not sure what happened tonight, but let him play two free throws and contact with absolutely crazy contacts. They put the ball on him. Allowing those little people to do what they want to do, so I'm so excited for Saturday that we'll be able to do the same with their best players, if that's the body we allow, we'll be with it, we'll react to it, we'll be there, we'll be there, we'll be there, we'll be playing games there.

The "little" group guarding Jokic, who is 6-foot-8, includes Nicolas Batum, who is in the second half effort to play a major role in the Clippers' Game 6. Batum and Ivica Zubac teamed up to make effective efforts against Jokic, who had only five out of 25 points in the second half and two from the field.

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But even Adelman knows that officials have not decided to end a row of games with the same record between the two teams that ended the regular season.

“To be honest, that’s what I expected,” Adelman said. "It feels like a seven-game game. It's a uniformly matched series. There are a lot of good players out there and guys can have nights."

In Game 6, no one had a Nuggets night, which is why they entered Game 7.

Since winning the team’s only championship two seasons ago, close games have been primarily a nightmare for the Nuggets. They lost four of their last five ending opportunities, including two games in the second round of Minnesota series last year.

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The Nuggets led 3-2 in the series, just getting hit by 45 points in Game 6 and then lost Game 7 in their home game, which was with them playing the Clippers on Saturday.

Denver has lost four of four of its last five games, beating the Lakers in the first round last season, but only after losing Game 4 in a 3-0 series.

"It's going to be a different team," said Jamal Murray, who scored 21 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in Game 6. "It's going to be another type of series. We just have to play the game. I don't think there's anything to overthink. We just have to have the same intentions as the same intention, I've only played one game.

Jokic did not view the Nuggets' recent ending failure as a decay in his team. After all, Jokic and Murray lead a team that ended four opponents in the 2023 championship game.

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"I'll handle the same," Jokic said. "Every game is very important to me. I want to win, so I'll play as a regular game."

The Nuggets could only hold Game 7 as they won the final three games to beat the Clippers’ decisive game, which won eight games in a row, and 18 of 21 games ended the regular season. It was only 23 days ago that Michael Malone was amazing, and Adelman became the head coach for the last three games of Denver, but the new coach has already entered the series for his team.

"You won the last three games, not only to avoid the game, but to get home in Game 7, we won the game," Adelman said. "That's what I told them.

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