JAMAL Murray drilled a go-ahead basket as Denver Nuggets ousted Los Angeles Lakers with a 108-106 win in Game 5 of the NBA Western Conference first round series on Monday night (Tuesday in the Philippines) at the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado.
With the score tied at 106-all, Murray dribbled the ball before pulling up for a fall away jumper over the defense of Lakers’ Austin Reaves with 3.6 seconds left in the game.
With the Lakers having no timeouts remaining, Taurean Prince was forced to attempt from the half-court area as the final buzzer sounded, handing the series win to the defending champions.
Murray finished with 32 points, including five three-point conversions, to go with seven assists, three rebounds, and a steal as the Nuggets ended the best-of-seven series at 4-1.
Michael Porter Jr. added 26 markers, while Nikola Jokić had a near-triple-double of 25 points, 20 rebounds, and nine assists for Denver, which will face Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round of NBA playoffs.
LeBron James tallied 30 points, 11 assists, and nine rebounds, Reaves added 19 markers, while Anthony Davis, Rui Hachimura, and D’Angelo Russell contributed 17, 15, and 14, respectively, for the Lakers.
Oklahoma City Thunder moved to the second round of Western Conference playoffs after sweeping the New Orleans Pelicans with a 97-89 Game 4 win at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.
From an 80-all score, the Thunder went on a 13-2 scoring run behind triples from Josh Giddey and Jalen Williams and a two-pointer from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to establish a 93-82 advantage.
The Pelicans tried to cut the deficit to eight points, but the Thunder responded with timely shots from Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams to complete a 4-0 sweep in their best-of-seven first round series.
Gilgeous-Alexander had a double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds, Williams added 24 markers, Giddey and Chet Holmgren contributed 14 markers apiece, and Luguentz Dort ended with 11 points for the Thunder.
Boston Celtics, on the other hand, cruised to a commanding 3-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference after a 102-88 Game 4 win over Miami Heat. Derrick White top-scored for the Celtics with 38 points, including eight triples./PN
BOX SCORE:
DENVER 108 — Murray 32, Porter 26, Jokić 25, Jackson 8, Gordon 7, Caldwell-Pope 5, Watson 3, Braun 2, Holiday 0.
LOS ANGELES 106 — James 30, Reaves 19, Davis 17, Hachimura 15, Russell 14, Dinwiddie 6, Prince 4, Hayes 1, Vincent 0.
Quarterscores: 28-24, 50-53, 81-79, 108-106.
