Thanks to a game-winning buzzer-beater, Jamal Murray propelled the Denver Nuggets to a 101-99 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night. Murray hit a fadeaway two-point shot over Anthony Davis with the game tied as the clock expired, giving the Nuggets a 2-0 series lead.
Davis scored a game-high 32 points and added 11 rebounds, while Denver’s Nikola Jokić had 27 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists in a star-studded battle that featured an impressive fourth quarter from LeBron James, who totaled 26 points and 12 assists.
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. IT’S JAMAL MURRAY EVERYONE. 🏹 pic.twitter.com/xfihf0lXAe
-Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) April 23, 2024
“Without my teammates, I might not have even made that shot,” Murray said after the game on TNT. “I did what I could today, I tried to get the upper hand in defense. … It was a great team win. We all stayed together.
“Without my teammates, I might not have even made that shot.”
Jamal Murray joins TNT after calling Lakers game pic.twitter.com/g1lfEVxk26
– NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 23, 2024
Los Angeles, which has lost 10 straight games to Denver, will host Game 3 on Thursday.
Free daily sports updates straight to your inbox. Register
Free daily sports updates straight to your inbox. Register
Buy
Sorry
Just when Davis finally figured out Jokić, as if the Lakers’ offense was going to break through and end Denver’s nine-game winning streak against Los Angeles, the Nuggets ripped out the Lakers’ hearts and stomped on them.
This is by far the worst of the ten defeats. The Lakers led by 20 points with 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter. They were outscored 53-31 for the rest of the game. The offensive has stopped. Davis stopped shooting and couldn’t stop Jokić. James’ efforts were too little, too late. And the Jokić-Murray two-hander, the giant thorn that came out of the Lakers in the clutch, sank them once again. Los Angeles has only lost two games, but it feels more like three. The Lakers are fighting their mental demons against the Nuggets as much as anything. That buzzer-beater was probably the death blow to this series. — Jovan Buha, Lakers senior writer
Required reading
(Photo: Ron Chenoy / USA Today)