5 Overreactions to Los Angeles Clippers' Game 2 Win vs. Denver Nuggets

DENVER -- The Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets' first-round clash shifted in Game 2, with the Clippers stealing homecourt advantage and winning 105-102 on the road.

The obvious highlight was the absurd performance of Kawhi Leonard, who went 15-of-19 from the field on the way to 39 points, mostly on jump shots.

But his night wasn't the only one worthy of some overreactions. Five takes in the wake of a wild Game 2 are below.

This may feel a little out of place for a player who logged 18 minutes and went 2-of-5 from the field, but the Clippers feel significantly more dangerous on both ends of the floor when Nicolas Batum is on it.

He can switch onto any position defensively and hold his own, including against centers. He's willing to fight for boards. And because of his 7'1" wingspan, even though he's often part of "small-ball" lineups, L.A. doesn't give up a ton of size when he's in.

On offense, he's a willing ball-mover, and few players in the league can convert on "grenade" passes quite like he can. When the ball is headed his way with the shot clock winding down, it seems like it barely touches his hands before it's up and eventually through the net.

He hit two threes in Game 2, was a positive in the plus-minus ledger and could be one of the keys for this entire series.

This take sort of extends beyond the Clippers-Nuggets series, but it's certainly true of this one.

Even if Batum and a little small-ball still feels like a bit of a cheat code, size is critical in a series with Nikola Jokić, and the Clippers have it.

Seven-footer Ivica Zubac, at the very least, makes Jokić think twice about a lot of his decisions with the ball. You can almost see the hesitance when he catches it. Instead of shooting right away or attacking off the bounce, there's often an extra moment or two where Jokić seems to be processing how he's going to get around this mobile human mountain in front of him.

The Nuggets center still finished with 26 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, but he shot 50 percent from the field (lower than his season-long field-goal percentage) and committed seven turnovers (about double his season average).

And again, this isn't exclusive to this game and series. The Houston Rockets almost swung their Game 1, thanks to Steven Adams' aggression on the boards. The Oklahoma City Thunder often deploy a two-big look with Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren.

After years of the NBA game seemingly trending toward extinction for old-(or older-)school centers, they appear to very much be back this postseason.

There's certainly an argument for the Minnesota Timberwolves on this particular take, but a potential series between them and OKC would have to wait for the conference finals.

There may be an earlier chance at the upset, thanks to this Clippers team.

Don't misunderstand. The Thunder would be a heavy favorite, and for good reason. But L.A. has waves of perimeter defenders to throw at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Kawhi and James Harden can both take over long stretches of individual games. And Zubac can make life significantly more difficult for all the Thunder's slashers around the rim.

There's a reason this team is top 10 on both sides of the floor since Kawhi started playing more regular minutes, and having him fully embodying his old Terminator self again has to have everyone in the West taking notice (including OKC).

It might seem a little silly to question the decision-making of a three-time MVP and one-time Finals MVP who just averaged a triple-double, but it's hard to emerge from these two games without thinking he's passing a little too much.

As alluded to above, he's taking an extra beat or two before deciding whether to shoot. And after a lot of his drives in Game 2, he'd have himself in position for his little 3-4-foot floater, but instead of putting it up, he'd try to dump it inside to a cutter like Peyton Watson or Russell Westbrook, who was just a couple feet away.

Other times, L.A. would seemingly stunt the double-team and goad Jokić into a cross-court pass that was picked off.

In both situations, simply being the aggressor and shooting the ball himself probably makes more sense.

There's obviously value to keeping teammates engaged and happy with the passing. But sometimes, the best (and most unselfish) play is for Jokić to simply put it up.

Denver's 20 turnovers and eight missed free throws loom large after that game. In general, it feels like they have to play better offensively to regain control of this series. And that probably starts with Jokić.

But Monday may also have been one of those nights when there was simply nothing to be done about an all-time great player having an all-time great performance.

Thirty-nine points on 19 field-goal attempts are absurd, especially when you consider how many of his makes were contested jump shots.

And beyond that, simply watching Kawhi move right now makes it impossible not to think back to 2019, when he engaged Terminator mode for four rounds and dragged the Toronto Raptors to a championship.

All the injuries that predated that run and were in between it and this potential one have undoubtedly changed the way we'll think about his career.

As it stands, he has two Finals MVPs with two different teams, two Defensive Player of the Year nods and six All-Star selections. But his spots on all-time leaderboards for categories like total points (164th) severely limit his place in NBA history.

Had the injury sliders simply been turned all the way down on this career, there's a very real chance he'd be in the mix for a spot in the top 10. He often plays offense with the inevitability of Michael Jordan. He defends like Scottie Pippen.

When healthy, something that's been tragically rare during his time in the NBA, there are very few players across the history of the game who were as good.