Murray completed with 17 points on 7-of-21 shooting from the field while linking on just 1-of-6 3-point attempts. He came up with huge plays down the stretch, hitting a pair of objected to pails in the final 3 minutes and coming up with a loose ball on what looked like a game-clinching take by Gary Harris.
After six video games marked by historic output from Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell, the Denver Nuggets ground out a Game 7 win over the Utah Jazz to advance to the second round of the playoffs. The 80-78 triumph resembled a 90s playoff slugfest more than the high-octane bubble-ball that had come to specify this series.
Murray didnt approach a 3rd 50-point video game of the series. He didnt require to as Denver warded off a second-half rally from Utah after blowing a 14-point halftime lead. With Utahs defense focused on slowing Murray, the Nuggets looked instead to their All-NBA center down the stretch.
Nikla Jokic plays hero for Nuggets
With the game connected at 78, Nikola Jokic leaned on his trademark footwork and drifted a high-arcing hook shot over Rudy Gobert for the consent pail with 27.8 seconds staying.
Torrey Craig missed out on the transition layup, breathing brand-new life into allure. Conley got a good appearance from 3-point distance on the occurring belongings, but it rimmed out as the Nuggets completed an unlikely rally to win the series.
Mitchell kept Jazz alive.
The frantic finish wouldnt have actually been needed without second-half heroics from Mitchell. The Jazz guard had a hard time in the very first half with seven points and five turnovers as Denver took a 50-36 lead into the break. He scored nine straight Utah points to start the 3rd quarter to stimulate a rally that saw Utah ultimately take a 66-65 led early in the fourth quarter.
There were no offending fireworks on Tuesday.
There was a thrilling finish regardless.
Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell accepted after their historic playoff battle. (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) More.
From then on, the game was backward and forward down to Conleys final missed shot.
Mitchell finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and nine turnovers. He fell to the flooring as Conleys shot rimmed out before fulfilling Murray to welcome after their historical duel.
Gobert had a monster game in the post, tallying 19 points, 18 rebounds and 2 blocks in the losing effort.
The Nuggets advance to handle the Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference semifinals. The Jazz will leave the bubble questioning what may have sought blowing a 3-1 lead.
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Nikola Jokic capped Tuesdays big performance with a game-winner. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) More.
Frenzied finish loses for Utah.
Harris knocked the ball out of Mitchells hands with 8.4 seconds staying as Mitchell drove in an effort to tie the video game after Jokics go-ahead bucket. Murray gathered the ball and led a quick break rather than hold it to force a foul.
Mike Conleys game-winning 3-point effort at the buzzer rattled off the rim to make sure that Denver would advance after digging a 3-1 hole to begin the series.
Jokic finished with 30 points and 14 rebounds and was the only consistent offending risk for Denver while hitting 12-of-23 shots from the field. Murray and Mitchell both cooled off considerably from their historical pace after each published a pair of 50-point games previously in the series. Neither group shot much better than 38 percent from the field.
Murray didnt approach a 3rd 50-point video game of the series. With Utahs defense focused on slowing Murray, the Nuggets looked instead to their All-NBA center down the stretch.
Murray and Mitchell both cooled down considerably from their historical rate after each published a pair of 50-point games earlier in the series. The frantic surface would not have actually been essential without second-half heroics from Mitchell. He scored 9 straight Utah points to begin the third quarter to stimulate a rally that saw Utah eventually take a 66-65 led early in the fourth quarter.
