This is the same scenario Denver faced a year ago with Minnesota, but the Nuggets are looking for a different outcome this time.

Harden has 28 points and eight assists in a bounce-back performance, Kawhi Leonard scores 27 and the Clippers hold on for a 111-105 win to set up a winner-take-all showdown Saturday in Denver.

Columnist Dylan Hernández writes that James Harden looked nothing like the player with a reputation for stinking up arenas at this stage of the season.