With the game and series on the line, the Denver Nuggets once again turned to the unflappable Jamal Murray to provide late-game heroics.
And just like he has so many times before, the electric Canadian guard delivered in the ultimate clutch moment.
Murray’s pull-up 14-footer over the outstretched arms of LeBron James with just 3.6 seconds remaining gave the Nuggets a 108-106 victory in Game 5 and an exhilarating 4-games-to-1 first-round series win over the gritty Los Angeles Lakers.
“Game 2, I went right. Game 5, I went left,” Murray said afterward, referring to his two iconic series-clinching shots in the closing seconds of consecutive home wins.
It was a poetic end to a grueling, physical series that saw both teams deal with key injuries down the stretch. But in the biggest moments, Denver’s dynamic duo of Murray and Nikola Jokic simply had too much firepower.
Murray poured in 32 points on 13-of-28 shooting, while Jokic, as usual, filled up the box score with 25 points, 20 rebounds, and 9 assists. The two-time MVP was a remarkably efficient 10-of-15 from the field and perfect 5-of-5 at the free throw line.
“The most amazing stat was (Jokic) was 0 of 0,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone marveled. “He didn’t miss a free throw tonight.”
With the game knotted at 95 with just over four minutes remaining, Murray and Jokic took over, scoring all 13 of Denver’s clutch points down the stretch through a series of dazzling individual plays and perfectly executed two-man sequences.
On one pivotal possession, Michael Porter Jr. fed Jokic on the left block, drawing Rui Hachimura’s double-team from the wing.
As Hachimura committed, Murray instinctively cut backdoor, taking the pass from Jokic and rising up for a thunderous dunk over a helpless LeBron James to give Denver a 104-101 lead.
It was just one example of the sublime chemistry and basketball IQ that make the Jokic-Murray partnership so lethal, especially in big moments.
Porter himself was fantastic throughout, scoring 26 points on an uber-efficient 8-of-12 shooting night that included 5 makes from beyond the arc. The talented 24-year-old was arguably the Nuggets’ most consistent scoring threat in the entire series.
On the other side, LeBron James did everything in his power to try and will the undermanned Lakers to an improbable series victory.
The 38-year-old icon scored 30 points on the night, repeatedly getting to his spots and making tough plays in the paint.
But his running mate, Anthony Davis, was clearly compromised after injuring his left shoulder on a third-quarter collision with Porter. Though he gutted out 30 points as well, Davis spent most of the second half simply trying to get off shots with his left arm hanging limp at his side.
The injury woes mounted for both teams as the series wore on through five intense, physical games in just nine days.
Murray was playing through a lingering left calf strain, while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope sprained his left ankle in the first quarter before gritting his way through nearly 30 more minutes of action.
“Seemed like we had a lot of guys that were getting banged up along the way,” Malone said. “I didn’t know who the hell we were gonna finish the game with. But we were able to get the job done.”
Though they entered the fourth quarter trailing 83-79, the Nuggets simply would not be denied down the stretch, trading blows with the Lakers through nine lead changes in the final period alone.
After Denver took a 91-90 lead on a Murray transition three, James answered with back-to-back buckets to put the Lakers up 94-91.
But Jokic immediately responded with a driving layup and assisted on a Murray triple, part of a 7-0 spurt to make it 98-94 Nuggets with 4:30 to go.
From there, the two teams fought to the final buzzer in an epic back-and-forth affair befitting such an intense, draining rollercoaster of a series between two battle-tested teams.
When the dust settled, it was Murray—just over a year removed from ACL surgery—calmly stepping up and knocking down yet another signature clutch shot to put his team over the top.
With the thrilling win, the Nuggets advance to face the 3rd-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round, beginning Saturday night in Denver.
They’ll do so with plenty of momentum, confidence, and big-game experience built up from the taxing Lakers series.
For MVP favorite Jokic and rising star Murray, it’s another line added to their rapidly growing legacy as an elite talent pairing that simply finds a way to win when it matters most.
