Jamal Murray made a shot.
Once more.
And in a playoff sequence that the Nuggets trailed extra minutes than they led, they received 4 of 5 video games.
Murray’s pull-up 14-footer with 3.6 seconds remaining handed the Nuggets a 108-106 Recreation 5 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers and a first-round sequence win. Denver will advance to play the third-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves within the second spherical, beginning Saturday at Ball Area.
Regardless of a shaky taking pictures sequence, Murray made two game-winners in consecutive dwelling video games, each after Michael Malone didn’t name a timeout going into the ultimate possession. With the Nuggets trailing Monday night time, Murray additionally sank a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:06 remaining within the fourth quarter after an Aaron Gordon offensive rebound in site visitors.
“Recreation 2, I went proper,” Murray mentioned, “and Recreation 5, I went left.”
Murray and Nikola Jokic grew to become a beacon of effectivity once more in clutch time, exchanging haymakers with the Lakers. On one sensible possession, Michael Porter Jr. fed Jokic within the put up from the appropriate wing, and Rui Hachimura waited to ship a double-team, fearing the recent hand of Porter. When he dedicated, Murray anticipated the following rotation to Porter and minimize from the highest of the important thing for a dime from Jokic. He dunked on LeBron James for the lead. Murray completed with 32 factors on 13-of-28 taking pictures. The ultimate shot was successfully one other buzzer beater; Los Angeles didn’t have a timeout to advance the ball.
After it was tied at 95 with 4:30 remaining, the Nuggets scored on six of their final eight possessions, with all 13 clutch factors scored by Jokic or Murray. Jokic completed with 25 factors, 20 rebounds and 9 assists. James scored 30 to cleared the path for Los Angeles. Davis was by no means the identical after his damage.
“Probably the most wonderful stat was (Jokic) was 0 of 0,” Malone mentioned. “He didn’t miss a free throw tonight.”
“Undoubtedly I didn’t need to play Thursday,” Jokic mentioned solemnly. “However should you ask me, I wish to play Minnesota in two or three days. I don’t like 5 days off. My physique thinks it’s a relaxation.”
Porter completed a outstanding sequence individually, rivaling Jokic because the Nuggets’ most constant offensive participant. He scored 26 factors on 8-for-12 taking pictures together with 5 of seven from 3-point vary in Recreation 5. He additionally contributed a pair of steals. For the sequence, he shot 55.3% from the ground and 48.8% from three.
Murray appeared bothered by his left calf pressure at instances, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope performed on one ankle after spraining his left within the first quarter, and Anthony Davis spent a lot of the second half along with his left arm glued to his facet after a third-quarter collision with Porter injured his shoulder. For a sequence within the fifth recreation as an alternative of the seventh, everybody concerned was noticeably on fumes.
For Denver, that’s the price of taking part in from behind each recreation. The Lakers didn’t max out at a double-digit benefit this time, however their lead acquired to 69-60 a couple of minutes into the second half. The results of that damage to Davis hadn’t set in but, although. Jokic sank a 3-pointer, Caldwell-Pope rebounded his personal miss for a layup, and inside minutes, Porter had an opportunity at a game-tying 4-point play. He missed the free throw, however Denver took the lead its subsequent journey down the ground. It was a 14-2 run. The remainder of the best way was a back-and-forth affair.
Caldwell-Pope mentioned afterward his ankle felt “so-so.”
“Appeared like we had a whole lot of guys that had been getting banged up alongside the best way,” coach Michael Malone mentioned. “I didn’t know who the hell we had been gonna end the sport with. However we had been in a position to get the job accomplished.”
The primary half performed out like a merciless accident for the Nuggets. After taking pictures a dismal 17 for 68 (25%) on vast open 3s within the first 4 video games of the sequence, they emerged pulling down pictures and looking out like their previous selves once more. They made seven of their first 14 makes an attempt past the arc and went into the intermission taking pictures them at a 42% clip. Reggie Jackson acquired in on the motion with an eight-point half. Not solely that; the Nuggets used a 10-0 closing run to guide on the finish of the primary quarter for the primary time all sequence.
They had been checking a lot of the mandatory bins to flip a close-out recreation of their favor. But they trailed 53-50 on the half anyway.
How? One detrimental pattern continued, and one other popped up for the primary time.
The Lakers outscored Denver 26-16 within the paint within the half, led by Davis’s 16 factors on 8-of-10 taking pictures. In a pick-and-roll with James, Los Angeles punished Jokic again and again. Jokic performed on the degree of the display greater than the drop protection he had performed earlier within the sequence, and James saved discovering Davis on the roll.
Talking of Jokic: He performed arguably his worst half of the season. The Lakers continued to relentlessly double-team him within the put up, timing their defensive rotations to perfection as a way to mitigate Denver’s makes an attempt to take advantage of the double-teams. Jokic didn’t attempt to again down Davis. He pressured unhealthy passes. With 3:32 left within the second quarter, he had 4 factors, 4 discipline aim makes an attempt and 4 turnovers. Solely when he began taking part in extra aggressively did the Nuggets flip the script.
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