DENVER (AP) – Jamal Murray scored 32 points despite a calf strain and sank the game-winner with 3.6 seconds remaining as the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets knocked LeBron James out of the playoffs again with a 108-106 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 on Monday night.
James’ two free throws tied it at 106 with 26 seconds left and the Nuggets, just as they did in Game 2, avoided the timeout and Murray caught the ball on a high screen and rolled left, shaking Austin Reaves and he crossed. the runway and swung the 14-ft.
It was from Murray bell knocker who won game 2.
“This one was a little better,” Murray said as confetti swirled around him and his celebrating teammates.
Nikola Jokic, who committed seven uncharacteristic turnovers, narrowly missed his 19th career playoff triple-double with 25 points, 20 rebounds and nine assists and Michael Porter Jr.
James had 30 points and 11 assists and Davis had 17 points and 15 rebounds, but looked troubled down the stretch after slamming his left shoulder into MPJ in the second half.
The Nuggets advanced to face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round starting next weekend. That series begins in Denver, where the Nuggets are 36-8 at the top of the Western Conference, including 3-0 in the playoffs.
Not that it was easy.
The Nuggets have trailed for about three-quarters of the minutes in this series, they’ve battled prolonged shooting slumps, and they’re a banged-up group that can definitely use the rest.
The Nuggets, who defeated the Lakers in the Western Conference finals last summer en route to winning the franchise’s first NBA championship, defeated the Lakers for the 12th time in the last 13 games.
The only other time James was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs was in 2021, when the Phoenix Suns beat LA in six games.
So this was the shortest of James’ 17 trips to the playoffs, where he is now 183-104 overall with a 41-13 series record and four titles.
After warming up with an ice pack on his injured calf, Murray was medically cleared to play. He wasn’t as explosive as usual on field goal attempts — at first — but he had 16 points in the first half, including 12 in a first quarter that ended with Denver ahead (28-24) for the first time in the entire series.
The Lakers led 53-50 at halftime and extended the lead to nine points, but the Nuggets closed on a 21-10 run to take an 81-79 lead into the fourth quarter, which was tight until the buzzer.
After Murray’s shot, Taurean Prince launched a half-timer that missed, sending the Lakers to an early exit despite taking the defending champions to the brink in all five games.
