Clippers' season ends with Game 7 blowout

That's all, folks.

(Photo credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images)

DENVER -- Not everything in life ends with a bang. A whimper will suffice.

The LA Clippers barely registered a decibel level in their Game 7 trouncing at the hands of the Denver Nuggets, dropping a 120-101 stinker that was, incredibly enough, not nearly as close as the final score indicates.

Just like that, their season was over.

“Tough loss,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said after suffering his first career Game 7 defeat, dropping him to 4-1 in such situations. “Not playing our best game in a situation like this—a lot of emotions.”

One of those emotions could be bewilderment.

After all, the Clippers had won 50 games and were 18-3 in their final 21 games of the regular season, looking every bit of a potential Western Conference contender that they had hoped they’d be with Kawhi Leonard back and healthy.

And then it was over just two weeks later as they sauntered back to the road locker room inside Ball Arena, tasting a bitter loss that sent them to the offseason earlier than they had hoped.

“It’s hard because when you lose the last game and you get eliminated, it’s tough to think about all that,” Lue said of the season overall. “Supposed to win 35 games and we win 50 games, get to the 5th seed, and play against a really good team. We had our opportunities, and then tonight, like I said, it was a tough loss for us.”