It’s a Blast Considering Their Past

Since we’re dealing with so many decades of negativity here, maybe the right approach is to come at this from the perspective of what the Clippers didn’t do Monday night. You know, cross the streams and reverse the flow, “Ghostbusters” style.

A large fourth-quarter lead didn’t disappear when Sam Cassell and Elton Brand were on the bench. No one threw a mouthpiece at referee Joey Crawford. And the Clippers didn’t blow their, ahem, hard-earned home-court advantage.

OK, time to develop the film, turn the negatives to positive and look at the big picture: the Clippers are halfway to winning their first playoff series since the franchise came to California in 1978.

Now the series shifts to Denver, and at this point the change of venue looks like the only thing that can help the Nuggets, because they sure didn’t have an answer for the Clippers after a day to regroup from their two-point loss in the opener.

It’s all up to the Nuggets, because the Clippers have something that’s working. It sure looked good in their 98-87 victory in Game 2.

Just keep following Coach Mike Dunleavy’s structured offense and keep looking for the best possible shot. Keep playing the defense that has held the Nuggets below 40% shooting in each game.

The Clipper changes were less about what was on the dry-erase boards and more about what was in their heads and hearts.

Quinton Ross needed to think and dribble less and shoot more. He went scoreless with two turnovers in Game 1, and nearly bobbled the Clippers’ lead away in the final minutes. The Nuggets are giving him open jumpers, so whenever he got the chance Monday he fired away, making five of eight in Game 2.

Denver managed to keep Game 1 close only by grabbing 19 offensive rebounds and converting 20 second-chance points. Denver did outrebound the Clippers in Game 2, but had nothing to show for it.

Die-hards love Game 2. It’s the most strategic time of the series, a chance to see the countermoves for each team’s opening salvo.

“As a broadcaster, it’s my favorite game to do,” said Doug Collins, the player-turned-coach-turned-TNT-analyst. “You watch Game 1 and you sit there and you watch all the things that are happening. And then you get your coaching hat on, you’re sitting in your meeting and you go, ‘OK, the Clippers have to be happy about this and I’m sure Mike has got to be concerned about this. And I’m sure George is happy about these things, but he’s got to find a way to get some different guys on the floor at different times. Now you start finding out what the coaches are thinking and what they really saw.”

And sometimes all of the video review, walk-throughs and strategy sessions can’t prepare a team for the X factor -- the officiating. The crew of Joe Crawford, Jack Nies and Michael Smith made it clear that this would be a tightly called game when they bailed out Sam Cassell on a running left-handed shot to beat the 24-second clock. Ruben Patterson was whistled for a touch foul, and Cassell had two free throws.

But Carmelo Anthony felt the biggest impact. Anthony played less than five minutes in the first quarter before going to the bench with his second foul, and lasted only 90 seconds into the second quarter before he picked up his third. That’s 6:22 of play in the first half for the Nuggets’ best player.

Kenyon Martin didn’t play at all in the second half after bruising his left knee.

Those are Denver’s problems.

Anthony came out with a little flurry to start the third quarter, but he hasn’t been able to overcame the collective Clipper effort to get hands in his face and he has made only 14 of 41 shots in the two games.

The Clippers keep finding positive developments, such as Shaun Livingston going strong to the basket for a dunk and a foul. Or Vladimir Radmanovic playing through a left wrist injury to score eight points. And Corey Maggette finding enough of his shooting touch to score 12 points, and playing enough defense to get 17 1/2 minutes of playing time from Dunleavy.

The Clippers’ issues are minor, such as dips in intensity, getting a little sloppy with the ball. One of Dunleavy’s challenges will be reining in the enthusiasm of his players, since it’s too early to start celebrating. He tried to set the tone at halftime, when a jubilant Cuttino Mobley tried to chest-bump him after banking in a half-court shot at the buzzer. Dunleavy simply patted Mobley on the side.

But essentially his job is to get them to keep playing Clipper basketball. That’s now a good thing, not a punch line.

J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read more by Adande go to latimes.com/Adandeblog.