Jamal Murray's outburst boosts Nuggets over Lakers in Game 2, 108-103
DENVER — Denver Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray was in the middle of a horrible offensive game. Midway through the third quarter, he was 3-for-15 shooting and a careless turnover led to a LeBron James dunk and an 11-point Los Angeles Lakers lead.
Murray went from can’t shoot to can’t miss.
He made seven consecutive shots after the poor start and finished with a game-high 37 points as the Nuggets defeated the Lakers 108-103 in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals Thursday.
Denver remained unbeaten at home in the playoffs and did what it needed to do: retained home-court advantage through the first two games against the Lakers.
The series shifts to Los Angeles for the next two games. Game 3 is Saturday (8:30 p.m. ET).
The Nuggets didn’t have the same offensive outburst they had in Game 1 but managed to overcome foul trouble and Murray’s start.
"For those who have seen me play before, after a shooting half like that, I normally like to reset, come back down, reset my mind, quick little meditation in my head and just come back out focused," Murray said. "I missed my first couple coming out and had some really good looks. The game would've been a lot easier if I made them the first half. Just come out focused and knock them down, don't lose any confidence or anything like that. Just play my game and know they're going to fall if I keep shooting them."
Murray instigated a 30-10 Nuggets run in the second half that had the Lakers looking tired. Nuggets two-time MVP Nikola Jokic assembled another triple double, registering 23 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists, and Michael Porter Jr. played through foul trouble to finish with 16 points and seven rebounds.
Murray, who has been bothered by a painful ear infection, scored 27 of his points in the second half, including 23 in the fourth quarter when the Nuggets pulled away. He also had 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals.
"He was frustrated because he wasn't making shots that he's accustomed to making," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. "I said, 'Don't allow your offense to dictate your game. Find a way to get your defense into the game and then build off of that.' Obviously for him to go out there and get 37, 10 and 5 and score 23 in the fourth quarter was just a tremendous boost for us."
Murray, who showed what kind of scorer he can be in the 2020 Orlando bubble with two 50-point performances, scored at least 20 points in the fourth quarter of a playoff game for the fourth time more than any other player since 1997. Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson each did it twice.
The Lakers had average performances from James and Anthony Davis — not good enough against the No. 1 seed in the West. James, who missed several shots at the rim he normally makes, had 22 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, and Davis scored 18 points but was just 4-for-15 from the field. Rui Hachimura added 21 points off the bench for Los Angeles.
"We addressed a lot of the things that we said we were going to try to do better," Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. "Still got to be better in transition D. But overall the energy was there, the effort was there, the urgency was there. We just caught a bad stretch."