Jamal Murray scored 23 of his 37 factors within the fourth quarter, propelling the Denver Nuggets to a 108-103 come-from-behind win over the Los Angeles Lakers for a 2-0 lead within the NBA Western Conference finals.
Nikola Jokic had his thirteenth playoff triple-double with 23 factors, 17 rebounds and a dozen assists for the Nuggets, who’ve by no means been this near reaching the NBA Finals of their historical past.
Game 3 is at Crypto.com Arena, the place LeBron James and the Lakers are 8-0 within the playoffs.
Murray missed 12 of his 17 pictures by three quarters however discovered his contact within the fourth, going 6 for 7, together with 4 3-pointers and fuelling a 15-1 run that gave Denver a 96-84 lead.
Just like in Game 1, the Lakers did not go down simply.
They pulled to 3 factors on Austin Reaves’ jumper earlier than Murray sank two free throws with 12 seconds left and Bruce Brown stole the ball from James, then dribbled out the ultimate 8 seconds.
The Nuggets improved to 41-8 at house, greatest within the NBA, together with 8-0 within the playoffs.
James and Reaves each scored 22 for Los Angeles. Anthony Davis scored 18 after pouring in 40 within the opener and Rui Hachimra scored 21 factors off the bench.
For a lot of the night time, it appeared as if the Lakers would wrest home-court benefit from the Nuggets, who’re the highest seed for the primary time of their historical past.
The Lakers received the collection openers at Memphis and Golden State to achieve the convention championship.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
