Mitchell goes off for 57, but Nuggets beat Jazz in OT
Raptors open their NBA title defense with rout of Brooklyn
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Jamal Murray showed up for his postgame Zoom call wearing a shirt featuring the image of boxing great Muhammad Ali.
Almost fitting, given the Denver Nuggets withstood blow after blow from Donovan Mitchell before landing the knockout punch.
Murray scored 10 of his 36 points in overtime on a day Mitchell erupted for a Jazz playoff-record 57 points and the Nuggets beat Utah 135-125 on Monday in Game 1 of their first-round series.
“It was just lights, camera, action and come on we’re trying to get this win,” Murray explained.
Nikola Jokic finished with 29 points and 10 rebounds for Denver. He had a chance to win it in regulation at the buzzer, but his right-handed hook shot over Utah’s Rudy Gobert was off the mark. Murray took over in the extra period, sealing the game on a 3-pointer with 46.8 seconds remaining.
Mitchell was the star of the show in the absence of Mike Conley, who left the NBA bubble to return to Ohio for the birth of his son. Mitchell’s scoring spree surpassed the Jazz mark of 50 by Karl Malone on April 22, 2000, against Seattle.
Mitchell was 19 of 33 from the floor and 13 of 13 from the free-throw line. He hit six 3-pointers in 43 minutes, 14 seconds of work. He also had seven assists and nine rebounds.
Mitchell’s offensive explosion was the third-most points scored in an NBA playoff game, trailing only Michael Jordan (63) and Elgin Baylor (61), according to Basketball Reference.
It was no surprise this game went down to the wire. Denver went 3-0 against Utah during the regular and restarted season but won by a combined margin of just 11 points, including a 134-132 double-overtime thriller on Aug 8. RAPTORS 134, NETS 110: Fred VanV
leet scored 30 points and led Toronto’s sizzling 3-point attack as the defending NBA champions beat Brooklyn in the opening game of their firstround playoff series.
VanVleet went 8 of 10 from 3-point range and the Raptors shot 22 of 44 from beyond the arc as a team as they maintained playoff intensity even without any fans attending postseason games at Disney’s Wide World of Sports. The Raptors’ 22 3-pointers matched a season high and set a franchise playoff record.
VanVleet had 11 assists with only one turnover, becoming the first Raptor in franchise history to combine 30-plus points and 10-plus assists in a playoff game.
Pascal Siakam had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Toronto.
CLIPPERS 118, MAVERICKS 110: Kawhi Leonard and Los Angeles had enough answers to withstand Luka Doncic’s dazzling debut — especially after his running mate was thrown out of the game.
Leonard had 29 points and 12 rebounds, and the Clippers got a big boost from the ejection of Kristaps Porzingis to beat Dallas in Game 1 of their Western Conference playoff series.
Doncic finished with 42 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and had the No. 7 seed hanging right with the Clippers for much of the night.
But Los Angeles pulled into the lead when Porzingis was ejected for picking up his second technical foul in the third quarter to move ahead and Doncic couldn’t bring the Mavs all the way back.
CELTICS 109, 76ERS 101: Jayson Tatum had career playoff highs of 32 points and 13 rebounds, and Boston beat Philadelphia in Game 1 of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
Jaylen Brown scored 15 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter and Kemba Walker added 19 points for the Celtics.
Joel Embiid had 26 points and 16 rebounds and Josh Richardson and Alec Burks each added 18 points for the 76ers. Philadelphia nearly pulled off the win without All-Star guard Ben Simmons, who is out indefinitely after left knee surgery.
ALL-STAR GAME: The NBA’s 2021 All-Star weekend in Indianapolis is unlikely to take place as currently scheduled, with the league revealing Monday that large blocks of hotel rooms that had been reserved for the event have been released.
The next All-Star Game was set for Feb. 14.