Rob Issa, FISM News
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Jamal Murray’s big fourth quarter overshadowed Nikola Jokic’s latest triple-double.
Murray scored 23 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter, Jokic had 23 points, 17 rebounds, and 12 assists and the Denver Nuggets rallied for a 108-103 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals.
The Nuggets lead the series 2-0 and are two wins away from reaching the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.
Murray shot just 5 of 17 in the first three quarters but he found his touch down the stretch. He made 6 of 7, including four 3-pointers to spark a 15-1 run that turned a deficit into a 96-84 lead.
“I locked in,” Murray said. “I missed some really good looks in the first half. My team told me to keep shooting. Good thing I didn’t stop shooting.”
Jamal Murray points to Mike Breen and calls "BANG" after hitting the three 🔥 pic.twitter.com/NkwgqB1qsK
— NBA (@NBA) May 19, 2023
The Lakers closed within three points in the final minute but Murray hit a pair of free throws to ice the game for the top-seeded Nuggets.
Michael Porter Jr. added 16 points and defensive ace Bruce Brown had 12, including a clutch 3-pointer in the fourth.
“It’s not like we’re too high right now. The job’s not over,” Porter said.
LeBron James and Austin Reaves each scored 22 points and Rui Hachimura had 21 for the seventh-seed Lakers. Anthony Davis had 18 after scoring 40 in Game 1.
Game 3 is Saturday night in Los Angeles, where the Lakers are 8-0 in the playoffs.
“He made shots at the end of the clock,” James said of Murray.
We guard for 24 seconds and he made two big-time shots, one over (Anthony Davis) and one over me. He had his 3-point shot going in the fourth. It’s no surprise to me, he’s done it before. Sometimes it’s a never-miss league.
Jokic, the two-time NBA MVP, is averaging a triple-double in the playoffs and has 13 in the postseason in his career. Still, even some NBA reporters are unfamiliar with his dominance.
Nikola Jokic posts ANOTHER triple-double in the @nuggets Game 2 win!
23 PTS | 17 REB | 12 AST | 3 STL
WCF Game 3: Saturday, 10:30pm/et on ABC pic.twitter.com/oSqg2HnKtp
— NBA (@NBA) May 19, 2023
ESPN sideline reporter Lisa Salters said after Game 1 that she’d never seen Jokic play in person before. That comment irked some Nuggets.
“There are people who are still kind of being introduced to who Nikola Jokic is and the guy just put on a 34-21-14 performance and, oh, by the way, he’s averaging a triple-double in the playoffs,” Malone said.
Malone also wasn’t happy with media perception this week.
“I know a lot of our guys, they may not admit this, but you win Game 1 of the playoffs, and all everybody talked about was the Lakers,” he said.
The national narrative was that the Lakers were fine. They figured something out. No one talked about Nikola having a historic performance. What he’s doing is incredible. The narrative wasn’t about the Nuggets. It was about the Lakers and their adjustments.
Malone wasn’t concerned his lashing out would spark the Lakers.
“I don’t care if it does,” he said. “We know our narrative in that locker room. We haven’t done anything yet. You gotta win a game on the other team’s home court if you want to do something in the series. We know how great that team is, especially on the home court, so we’re not celebrating.”