ORLANDO – Jamal Murray scored 28 points as the Denver Nuggets held off a ferocious late fightback from the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference finals series on Tuesday.
Murray nailed two crucial late three-pointers in the closing minutes as Denver held on for a 114-106 victory in game three to reduce the Lakers’ lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
But the Nuggets – who looked in complete control for long periods of the contest – was given a mighty scare by the Lakers in a thrilling fourth-quarter battle.
The Lakers trailed by 20 points with just over 10 minutes remaining but whittled away the lead to just three points with 3min 53sec left on the clock in Orlando.
But just as it looked as if LeBron James and Anthony Davis were poised to complete a remarkable comeback, Murray regrouped to take the game away from the Lakers.
The 23-year-old Canadian’s three-pointer from 26 feet gave Denver a seven-point advantage at 106-99 and he then provided the assist for Paul Millsap to make it 108-99.
With less than a minute on the clock, Murray struck the dagger blow with a 29-foot three-point jump shot to make it 111-99 and effectively seal the victory.
Denver coach Michael Malone said his team – who had suffered an agonising buzzer-beater defeat in game two on Sunday – was determined not to go 3-0 down in the series.
The Nuggets have already overturned 3-1 series deficits en route to the Western Conference finals.
- ‘Not ready to go’ -
“I had no doubt we were going to show up tonight,” Malone said.
“We have won six straight elimination games. Everybody always has us packing our bags and leaving, but we’re not ready to go. They’re a very resilient group and they have proved that time and time again.”
Asked about his late flourish, Murray said he had set out to lead by example.
“That’s my whole energy, my whole approach to the game, not getting down if I miss a couple of shots,” Murray said.
“I’m just trying to be aggressive... but the most important part is the energy I bring when I'm talking to my team-mates, being a vocal leader, getting up and down and pushing everybody so they tend to follow. I just wanted to see them have a lot of fun today.”
“You put yourself in an 18-point hole, it’s tough to climb out of that,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said.
“I thought Denver played with great energy throughout the game. We didn't match it early, we matched it late. They’re a great basketball team so credit it to them for the win. They played a really good basketball game.”
“We were not as sharp as we could have been on both ends of the floor. We were playing at a high level, but were a little bit off in the first half.”
“But I liked the spirit that the guys competed with down the stretch to try and make it a game.”
Game four in the series takes place in Orlando on Thursday.
The winner of the Western Conference will play either the Boston Celtics or Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. – AFP, September 23, 2020
