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Jamal Murray made another shot, and the Denver Nuggets advanced to the second round of the 2023-24 NBA playoffs with a thrilling 108-106 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in […]
Jamal Murray made another shot, and the Denver Nuggets advanced to the second round of the 2023-24 NBA playoffs with a thrilling 108-106 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 at Ball Arena.
After being listed as questionable to play due to a calf strain, Murray dazzled offensively all night, hitting both the first and last shots of the game for the Nuggets.
The Nuggets led 28-24 after the first quarter, but found themselves trailing at halftime for the fifth straight game in the series. The Lakers led 53-50 at halftime behind a balanced effort, led by LeBron James.
The Lakers pushed their lead to as many as nine points in the third quarter, threatening to extend the series and force a Game 6 in Los Angeles. With the Lakers up 71-67, Michael Porter Jr. nearly hit a four-point play: he made the three-pointer despite a foul but missed the potential game-tying free throw. Still, momentum was trending Denver’s way. After a pair of baskets from Nikola Jokic and a Murray layup, the Nuggets grabbed a narrow lead, and another huge Porter Jr. three-pointer put Denver up 79-74 late in the third quarter.
A 12-5 Lakers run, fueled by a James three-pointer, put Los Angeles right back in front with a 91-89 lead just inside the seven-minute mark. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who was shaken up in the first quarter, nailed a three-pointer off a Murray assist to give the Nuggets a 92-91 lead. Tension was building in what would be in an instant classic game no matter the outcome.
Porter Jr. hit yet another three-pointer a moment later to give the Nuggets a 95-93 lead. Then Murray absolutely jammed a dunk over James, through contact to put the Nuggets up 97-95.
Austin Reaves and Murray went bucker-for-bucket twice in this stretch, leaving the Nuggets with a 99-97 lead with 3:46 to play.
D’Angelo Russell hit a close shot on the next possession to knot the game back up at 99 off an assist from James.
With 3:05 left in the game, it appeared that Jokic was finally earning himself a trip to the free throw line after some hands-on defense administered by Anthony Davis. Lakers head coach Darvin Ham challenged the call and the play was ruled a clean block by Davis, to the dismay of the Ball Arena crowd.
Without missing a beat, Jokic hit a tough inside floater on the Nuggets next possession to put Denver back up two points. On the ensuing Lakers possession, Reaves, who was huge in the fourth quarter, nailed a 27-foot three-pointer to give Los Angeles a one-point advantage and break the two points for two points trend.
Caldwell-Pope missed a 13-foot jumper on the Nuggets next trip down the court, but Jokic quickly gobbled up the rebound and found the bottom of the basket once again, hitting his most important shots when called upon despite a relatively quiet shooting night by the two-time MVP’s standards.
James made a contested layup with some contact off of a Reaves assist with 1:33 left to play, putting the Lakers up 104-103. Murray missed a 16-foot jumper on the offensive end, but Aaron Gordon’s tapped an offensive rebound to himself with his outstretched arm, kicked the ball back out to Murray, and the shooting guard sunk a 24-foot three-pointer like it was a layup to put the Nuggets up 106-104.
Needing a bucket to keep their season alive, the Nuggets put the ball in James’ hands, and the NBA’s all-time scoring leader drew a foul on Michael Porter Jr., earning a trip to the line for two crucial free throws. James sunk them both, tying the game at 106 with 26.1 seconds left to play.
Without calling a timeout, the Nuggets ran a familiar set: Murray dribbling the ball up the court, preparing to enter a two-man dance with Jokic. Ultimately, the ball didn’t leave Murray’s hands until he was 14 feet away from the basket, nailing what became his second game-winning shot of the series on a floater.
With no timeouts left, James frantically dribbled the ball to half-court, and passed the ball to Taurean Prince, who was heavily contested on his 40-foot game-winning three-point attempt.
The Nuggets won 108-106 on a night where they may not have played their best basketball. Jamal Murray nearly didn’t play, but without his fourth quarter takeover, the Nuggets would be traveling to Los Angeles right now for Game 6.
Murray finished with 32 points, 7 assists, and 3 rebounds on a night where he nearly didn’t play. After the game, Murray told head coach Mike Malone (who may have preferred Murray sat out to get healthy) that he’s not sure the Nuggets would have won the game without him.
“That’s the understatement of the century” Malone jokingly replied.
Murray hit 13 of his 28 shot attempts, including 5-of-10 three-point attempts. It was Murray’s second game-winning shot of the series, following Game 2’s “Jamal Murray Hit a Shot” over the outstretched arms of Anthony Davis.
Michael Porter Jr. was also huge for the Nuggets, scoring 26 points on 8-of-12 shooting and lethal 5-of-7 three-point shooting. Porter Jr. finished with a team-high +12 court rating in 46 minutes. Porter Jr. was incredible for the Nuggets night in and night out all series long, finishing with 58% shooting from the field, 45% shooting from three-point range, and 92% shooting from the free-throw line over the course of the series.
Nikola Jokic had an incredible looking stat line: 25 points, 20 rebounds, and 9 assists, but ultimately had a quiet night by his own standards. Jokic shot 12-of-21 from the field and didn’t visit the free throw line once.
Outside of the Nuggets Big Three, which put up 83 points, no other Denver player had more than eight points (Reggie Jackson.) Aaron Gordon had a Draymond Green-type stat-line: 7 points, 13 rebounds, 6 assists, on 3-of-7 shooting.
Denver advances to the second round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs to face a hungry Minnesota Timberwolves team. The Nuggets and Timberwolves met in the first round of last year’s playoffs, but Minnesota is even stronger this season, with Anthony Edwards coming in to his own as one of the best player’s in the NBA.
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