by Shaun Powell, Sports On Earth

The long wait is over, the NBA streak that threatened to last a lifetime or maybe forever is finally finished and now we can all get on with our lives.

But enough about JaVale McGee hitting the first three-pointer of his idiosyncratic career.

Yes, it was that kind of night in Denver, where the Clippers lost a game for the first time in five weeks. Nobody had a better December except Kris Kringle, because the Clippers ran the table and ran their winning streak to 17, the longest in the NBA in five years, before going 0-for-2013. This was bound to happen — meaning the loss to the Nuggets, not the continuation of the streak — when you consider the Clippers really weren’t tested all that much while they were winning.

Yes, they did beat the Nuggets in LA back on Christmas. But that was a whipped Denver team which, no thanks to the heartless schedule-makers, played twice as many games on the road as they did at home. On Tuesday the Nuggets took control early and easily, raised the lead to 19 points, saw McGee swish a three at the third-period buzzer and won 92-78 without Ty Lawson.

The Clippers were surely going to get ambushed anyway during this current stretch of games, if not by Denver then surely the frisky and improved Warriors, who see the Clippers twice, or maybe the reinvigorated Lakers on Friday.

Anyway, now that they’ve come back to earth, what have we learned about the team that looked very un-Clipper-like for over a month?

… [For more on Clippers weren't tested much during streak, click here.]