DENVER — Jamal Murray overcame a strained left calf but sat out the game at the suggestion of management, and the Los Angeles Lakers' other haymaker scored 32 points, winning the game with 3.6 seconds left on Monday night. sank.
This made LeBron James the fastest eliminated player in the playoffs, and the Denver Nuggets staggered into the second round with a 108-106 victory in Game 5, which featured 16 lead changes and 10 ties. The piece advanced, but it was confirmed only when Taurean Prince's half-court heave expired as time expired. Expired.
“Thank you to the Lakers. They had a great series,” said Murray, who hit the Lakers' first playoff buzzer-beater in Game 2 of the Western Conference first-round series.
“That's the shot I dreamed of when I was a kid,” Murray said, calling the shot “a little bit better.”
The Nuggets point guard became the first player in the last 25 seasons to hit multiple game-winning shots in the final five seconds of a single playoff series, according to ESPN Stats and Information research. He becomes the fourth player to do it multiple times in one postseason.
Without his dogged determination and defiance, Murray would never have had a chance to make the series a success.
“I arrived a little early to see if I could go today, and it felt like I could go, but they didn't want me to take any risks,” he said, warming up with an ice pack. Murray said. to an injured calf. “They told me no. They told me no.
“I didn't say no to that. I didn't want to leave my teammates behind,” added Murray, who missed 23 games in the 2023-24 season due to injury. “We've been fighting all season. Everyone hurts at some point, everyone goes through something. If I didn't play this game, I wouldn't be able to live with myself.”
“I was really happy that they listened to me, listened to my body, and trusted me.”
James' two free throws with 26 seconds left tied the score at 106, and the Nuggets avoided a timeout, just like in Game 2. Murray stole the ball to his left on a high screen-and-roll and rocked Austin Reaves across the lane for a 14-foot shot.
“That kid is a warrior,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “The bigger the moment, the more the child will continue to shine.”
Nikola Jokic had an uncharacteristic seven turnovers, but finished with 25 points, 20 rebounds and nine assists, just missing his 19th playoff triple-double, and Michael Porter J. scored 26 points.
James had 30 points and 11 assists, and Anthony Davis had 17 points and 15 rebounds, but appeared to be struggling late in the game after getting hit in the left shoulder by Porter in the second half.
The Nuggets have advanced to play the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round starting next weekend. That series begins in Denver, where the Nuggets have a conference-best 36-8 record, including 3-0 in the playoffs.
It was never easy.
The Nuggets were behind for about three-quarters of the game in this series, but they overcame a long shooting slump and are a solid team that will definitely use the remaining time.
“First of all, give them some respect,” James said. “Defending champions. They're a great team. They're very well-coached and played all the way to win the series. Give credit where credit is due, that's for sure.”
Davis matched Murray's 16 points in the first half, and the Lakers led 53-50 at halftime. That advantage expanded to nine points, but the Nuggets closed it out on a 21-10 run to take an 81-79 lead heading into a close fourth quarter at the buzzer.
The Nuggets, who defeated the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals last summer to win the franchise's first NBA championship, defeated the Lakers for the 12th time in their last 13 meetings.
The only time James was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs was in 2021, when the Phoenix Suns beat Los Angeles in six games.
So this was the shortest of James' 17 playoff appearances, even though the Lakers pushed the reigning champions to the brink in all five games.
“No matter what happened, I couldn't be more proud of the guys on our team,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “Obviously this series didn't go in our favor and it didn't start the way we wanted, but our players fought hard today to win at home and to get this game.” They show a lot of guts and have a lot of personality.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
