LOS ANGELES — Montrezl Harrell had air-balled one free throw and clanked the next. So the Denver Nuggets started hacking.
The plan to intentionally foul backfired. Harrell’s three free throws down the stretch, combined with a timely 3-pointer by Wesley Johnson with less than two minutes to play, helped the Clippers outlast the Nuggets 109-104 Wednesday night at Staples Center.
Denver let multiple double-digit leads slip away in a loss that was about as crucial as one can be in mid-January, as the Clippers (23-21) entered Wednesday a half-game back of the Nuggets (23-22) for the eighth spot in the Western Conference.