Jamaal Murray led the Denver Nuggets to a 101-99 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night. Murray drained a two-point fadeaway shot against Anthony Davis to tie the game as the clock expired and give the Nuggets a 2-0 series lead.
Davis scored 32 points and added 11 rebounds, while Denver's Nikola Jokic had 27 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists in a battle of stars that included LeBron James' 26 points and 12 assists in the fourth quarter.
Denver mounted a 20-point comeback in the second half, with Murray scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter. He finished with 20 points, but his clutch basket made the biggest difference.
What a bucket. This is Jamal Murray everyone. 🏹 pic.twitter.com/xfihf0lXAe
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) April 23, 2024
“If it wasn't for my teammates, I might not even get that shot,” Murray said on TNT. “I did my best today and I tried to take it on defense. … It was a great team win. We all stuck together.
“If it wasn't for my teammates, I wouldn't even get that shot.”
Jamaal Murray joined TNT after calling the game vs. the Lakers pic.twitter.com/g1lfEVxk26
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 23, 2024
Los Angeles hosts Game 3 on Thursday, coming off a 10-game losing streak against Denver.
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Heart broken
Just when it looked like the Lakers' offense was going to snap Denver's nine-game winning streak over Los Angeles, and Davis found Jokic, the Nuggets ripped the Lakers' hearts out and stomped on them.
It was the worst of 10 losses. The Lakers led by 20 points with 10 minutes left in the third quarter. They were outscored 53-31 the rest of the way. Crime stopped. Davis stopped taking shots and couldn't stop Jokic. James' crunch time efforts were too late. The Jokic-Murray two-man game, the Lakers' giant thorn sticking out in the clutch, overwhelmed them once again. Los Angeles has only lost two games, but it feels like three. The Lakers are battling their mental demons as much as anything against the Nuggets. That buzzer-beater was probably the death blow of the series. — By Jovan Buha, Lakers senior writer
Required reading
(Photo: Ron Chenay / USA Today)
