DRAMA IN DENVER
Murray buzzer-beater breaks Lakers hearts
LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Jamal Murray fired the game-winner at the buzzer as the National Basketball Association champion Denver Nuggets erased a 20-point deficit to beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 101-99, and take a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference playoff series.
The drama in Denver followed a scintillating comeback by the New York Knicks, who scored eight points in the final half-minute to stun the Philadelphia 76ers, 104-101, for a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference set.
Nikola Jokic delivered a triple-double of 27 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists for Denver and Murray broke out of his shooting doldrums with 14 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter.
The Nuggets notched their 10th straight win over LeBron James and the Lakers, a run of dominance that includes Denver’s sweep in last season’s Western Conference finals.
The Lakers, led by the 32 points and 11 rebounds of Anthony Davis, were in control for most of the night, pushing a 59-44 halftime lead to 20 points early in the third quarter.
James scored 26 points and handed out 12 assists, but the Nuggets kept chipping away and tied it at 95-95 on Michael Porter’s basket with 1:15 remaining.
James put the Lakers up, 99-97, with a driving layup but Murray tied it again with a step-back jumper with 30 seconds remaining.
After James missed a three-point attempt, Murray rose over Davis and connected on a fall-away jumper with four-tenths of a second left.
“I told my teammates when I was struggling, I’m gonna look for y’all,” Murray told broadcaster TNT.
“And every single one of them told me to keep shooting, keep shooting.”
“They just told me to stay aggressive and keep looking for it, keep hunting it. I had the ball with a few seconds left and I knew once I made a couple, the next one should go down as well.”
“I just beat him to my spot and elevated, went through my shot,” he said. “I’m thankful enough that that was one of the few that went down for me.”
It was a similar story in New York, where the Knicks took the lead over the Sixers for the first time in the third quarter.
Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid was clearly hindered late by pain in his surgically repaired left knee, but the Sixers appeared to have regained control when Tyrese Maxey, fed by Embiid, made a three-pointer with 1:09 to play that put the Sixers up, 100-96.
But Jalen Brunson’s three-pointer with 27.4 seconds left pulled the Knicks within two points and after Josh Hart came up with a steal, Donte DiVincenzo capped a chaotic possession with a three-pointer — after missing his first attempt — to put the Knicks up, 102-101.
OG Anunoby sealed it at an ecstatic Madison Square Garden with a pair of free throws.