The Los Angeles Clippers dominated the opening game of the Western Conference semi-finals against the Denver Nuggets, winning 120-97. The Nuggets, who had only just clinched Game 7 of their series with Utah Jazz 48 hours earlier, fell behind by 18 points come the end of the second-quarter and would fail to recover. Last year's post-season MVP, Kawhi Leonard, was on inspired form for the Clippers, producing a game-high score of 29 points. Leonard's performance was somewhat a contrast to that of Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray - two players the Nuggets will be looking to offensively for the rest of the series. Just two days separate the two teams from meeting again in Game 2, which takes place on Sunday.