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 way of 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.
“He was special,” Jokic mentioned. “He won us the game basically.”
Just like in Game 1, the Lakers didn’t 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 residence, finest 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.
“He (Murray) made shots at the end of the clock,” James lamented.
“We guard for 24 seconds and he made two big-time shots, one over (Anthony Davis) and one over me.
“He had his 3-point shot going in the fourth. It’s no surprise to me, he’s done it before.
“Sometimes it’s a never-miss league.”
For a lot of the evening, 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.
In all, Denver sank seven 3s within the fourth quarter after hitting seven all evening.
“It would have been a lot easier if I had made them in the first half,” mentioned Murray, who continues to be enjoying by way of an earache.
The Lakers gained the collection openers at Memphis and Golden State to succeed in the convention championship.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
