With around six seconds remaining in the second quarter, Christian Braun committed a strategic foul on James Harden. Denver had a foul to give, so the idea was to force the Clippers to inbound the ball again and try to get a shot off against a set defense.

Former Brooklyn Nets guard James Harden and the Los Angeles Clippers demolished the Denver Nuggets in Game 3 of their 2025 NBA playoff series.

James Harden and Denver's Christian Braun tangled in the final seconds before halftime, triggering a skirmish that resulted in six technical fouls between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Nuggets in Game But the referees decided there was no closed fist punch thrown and assessed six technicals,