For the first time in 10 matchups, it looked like the Los Angeles Lakers were going to defeat the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of their first round series on Monday night.
Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic had other ideas.
Jokic finished with 27 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists for the fourth 20/20/10 playoff game of his career, and Murray delivered a thrilling buzzer-beater to give the Nuggets the 101-99 victory in advance of Game 3 in Los Angeles on Thursday night.
The Lakers led 59-44 at halftime, an offensive explosion in the first half with big shots from D’Angelo Russell and 24 points from Anthony Davis. After a LeBron James baseline jumper over Jokic with 8:19 remaining in the third quarter, the Lakers held a 19-point advantage, 72-53.
With 7:17 to go in the quarter, Davis scored on a jump hook. 74-57 Lakers. Inexplicably, it would be Davis’ last points of the game.
Just under three minutes later, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope found Jokic in transition for a layup. As Jokic’s scoop layup went in, he careened to the floor. Timeout, Lakers. 74-61 with 4:38 to go in the third.
Both teams got good looks both inside and out, with the Lakers displaying more of an inability to convert. At one point, they missed nine consecutive field-goal attempts over a five minute stretch as the Nuggets closed the game to nine when Jokic backed down Rui Hachimura and scored a jump hook. 74-65, 2:26 remaining in the third. At the other end, a corner three from Russell ended the run. The Lakers took a 79-69 lead into the fourth.
The Nuggets’ defense had some good sequences in the fourth, forcing the Lakers deep into the shot clock. Murray began to get going, scoring on an inside scoop layup to make it a seven-point game, 82-75, with 9:18 remaining. Exactly one minute later, Jokic found Peyton Watson in transition for a layup. 82-77, timeout Lakers.
Murray hit a jumper just above the free-throw line, 83-79. To that point in the game, Murray was a paultry 5-for-19. On the next possession, he scored on a driving layup, getting the Nuggets within two. James answered with back-to-back triples, putting the Lakers up eight with 5:53 remaining. After James rebounded a Murray miss, it looked as if the visitors were going to pull away. James, though, missed a layup and Gordon hit two-free throws at the other end. 89-83, 5:07 to go.
Posting up on Caldwell-Pope, James had the ball stripped, and the shot clock ran out after a brief scramble for the ball. Jokic got the deficit back to four with an inside layup, and the Lakers called time.
Out of the timeout, James, posting on Caldwell-Pope, turned and was hit on the arm by Murray. James’ soft touch was good enough to connect on the fadeaway. He however missed the free-throw. Jokic, posting Davis, backed down and spun for the jump hook. 91-87.
Austin Reaves hit on a tough jumper to get the Lakers up six once again, but Murray, weaving inside, scored on a scoop layup. 93-89.
Hachimura missed an open three, and Jokic, once again posting Davis, banked a layup off the glass plus the foul. The free-throw made it a one-point game. 93-92.
After Reaves missed a triple, the Nuggets took possession down one with 1:49 remaining.
Then James made a play befitting of an all-time great.
Murray, off a Jokic screen, elevated. As he attempted a pass to Jokic, James deflected the ball, retrieving it and sprinting the other way for a one-handed slam. 95-92 Lakers, 1:23 remaining. In an incredible sequence, Michael Porter Jr. answered with a triple. Tie game. Russell drove at the other end and hit a lofting layup. 97-95 Lakers.
Murray made two free-throws at the other end, James a driving layup to put the Lakers back on top, and Murray a step-back to make the score 99-99 with 30 seconds remaining.
For a chance at a potential win, James missed on an open triple, the ball going in and out. The miss was a microcosm of the night for the Lakers, who missed some very makeable shots. Porter Jr. secured the rebound, getting the ball into Murray’s hands.
Murray, a player who exponentially elevates his game come playoff time, brought the ball up and angled for the right side of the floor. Stopping as he headed toward the baseline, he leapt and released the ball over Davis in a sort of double-clutch motion that led one to believe the shot might be short.
The shot got enough air, however. Enough air to revive the lungs of the altitude-induced crowd and enough air for the ball to swish through the basket. Ball game.
Murray’s 14-point quarter salvaged an otherwise poor performance. Despite the outburst in the final 12 minutes, he finished with 20 points, made just 9-of-24 shots, and did not make a three-pointer in five attempts. Jokic, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Dave Cowens, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are the only others to put up 20/20/10 in a playoff game since 1968.
James scored 26 points, had 12 assists, and 8 rebounds. The Lakers would not have had a chance at victory without his final frame exploits, including the back-to-back triples that stymied the Nuggets’ momentum. Russell scored 23, and Porter Jr.’s 22, including six triples, were key for the Nuggets.
The night ended up being about Murray though, with a shot that will live in playoff lore. The way in which he maneuvered to the right side was reminiscent of Kawhi Leonard’s 2019 shot against the Philadelphia 76ers, as was the way that he fell into a mob of Nugget bench players on the sideline. Different on this play, however, was that Murray’s shot was nothing but net, instead of the multiple bounces that Leonard’s took.
Not only does Murray’s buzzer-beater have a spot in history, but it also is debilitating for a Laker team that seemed poised to go home with a 1-1 split in the Denver altitude. The Lakers are 0-10 against the Nuggets in the last 10 meetings between the two clubs, and a win on Monday would have given them momentum heading home. Now, it just seems that no matter what they do, they cannot beat this Denver team.
And Murray, right at this moment, is to thank for that.
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