Clippers vs. Denver Nuggets preview

In the Clippers’ penultimate game of the season, they will host the Denver Nuggets at Staples Center at 7:30 p.m. Monday.

The Clippers are in a three-way tie for third-place in the Western Conference with the Memphis Grizzlies and the Houston Rockets -- and those three teams are only a half a game behind the second-place San Antonio Spurs. So the Clippers could end up anywhere from second place to sixth place.

The Clippers have won five games in a row and 12 of their last 13, losing only to the first-place Golden State Warriors in a close game during that stretch.

The Nuggets are in 12th place in the West, out of playoff contention.

The Clippers have won two of their three games against the Nuggets this season, beating them, 102-98, on Jan. 26 and, 107-92, on April 4. The Nuggets beat the Clippers when the teams played in Denver on Dec. 19, 109-106.

After playing the Nuggets, the Clippers travel to Phoenix to play the Suns on Tuesday in their final regular-season game.

Don’t expect Clippers’ superstars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin to sit out either of the team’s final two games, even though Coach Doc Rivers put the offer on the table. Paul is on his way to playing in all 82 games for the first time in his career, and Griffin just returned to the court March 15 after missing 15 games because of a staph infection in his right elbow that required surgery. Both players said they expect to play in both games, especially because there’s so much on the line.

The Clippers, who have never advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs in their franchise history, hope to clinch the second seeding.

“We’re playing our best at the right time,” J.J. Redick said Saturday. “We feel like we can beat anybody.”