Nuggets golden in comeback
Denver, down 3-1 in series, wins Game 7 to advance
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Jamal Murray helped a heartbroken Donovan Mitchell off the floor for a handshake and hug, a show of respect between players who had a memorable battle in the bubble.
They traded historic offensive fireworks for six games, before Game 7 turned into an old-fashioned defensive struggle.
“It was a great battle. I don’t know what else to say. I’m speechless,” Murray said. The ending left everyone out of words. Nikola Jokic made the tiebreaking basket with 27 seconds left, and the Nuggets advanced to the second round of the playoffs, beating the Utah Jazz 80-78 in Game 7 on Tuesday night when Mike Conley’s 3-pointer spun out at the buzzer.
The Nuggets became the 12th team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 deficit to win a series, but only after they blew a 19-point lead in this game.
“A lot of teams would have just given in, especially when you consider we’ve been here 57 days away from our families,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.
After Jokic’s basket, the Jazz got the ball to Mitchell following a timeout. The Nuggets stole it from him and raced down for a fast break, but Torrey Craig missed the layup. Utah rebounded and pushed the ball up the floor to Conley, whose jumper looked good all the way until it fell out.
Jokic had 30 points and 14 rebounds and Murray scored 17 points. No. 3 seed Denver advanced to face the second-seeded Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference semifinals.
“We have nothing to lose. We’re just going to be here until someone sends us home,” Jokic said in his postgame interview on the court. “We’re never going to quit. However tough the opponent is, we’re just going to play together.”
Mitchell scored 22 points, and Rudy Gobert finished with 19 points and 18 rebounds after a huge second half for the Jazz.
Murray shot only 7 for 21, far off his performances of the past three games. So the Nuggets turned more to Jokic, their All-Star center who tossed in a short hook shot in the lane after the Jazz had tied it at 78.
“That’s when you need Nikola to step up,” Malone said.
Murray and Mitchell became the first pair of players to have two 50-point games in the same series, but the men in the middle were the biggest factors in this one.
After a quiet first half in which Mitchell was all the Jazz had going, Gobert began dominating the paint, keeping possessions alive on offense and stopping Denver drives on defense.
But the Nuggets prevailed in their third Game 7 in the last two years, having defeated San Antonio in the first round last year before getting knocked out by Portland. They played three more do-ordie games in the bubble to extend their stay.
Denver controlled the first half and had a 19-point lead a minute into the third quarter. Mitchell then scored nine straight points before Conley hit a 3-pointer that cut it to 55-48. The Jazz got it all the way down to 65-60 after Gobert converted a three-point play for the final points of the period.
Tatum, Smart lift Boston past Toronto, Celtics take 2-0 lead
Jayson Tatum scored 34 points, Marcus Smart made five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and the Boston Celtics beat the Toronto Raptors 102-99 in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series, putting the reigning
NBA champions in serious trouble.
Smart scored 19 points, Kemba Walker had 17 and Jaylen Brown scored 16 for the Celtics, who now hold a 2-0 series lead. The Celtics are 3-0 against Toronto in the NBA’s restart bubble at Walt Disney World and 5-1 against the Raptors this season.
OG Anunoby had 20 points for Toronto, which got 19 from Fred VanVleet — who missed a 28-footer as time expired. Serge Ibaka and Pascal Siakam scored 17 points apiece and Kyle Lowry added 16 for Toronto.
Smart made three 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions in a 73-second span early in the fourth, then added another 3 about a minute later — and a four-point play a minute after that, putting Boston up 86-85 with 7:55 left.
It was part of a 29-9 run by Boston, with the Celtics going up 95-87 with 4:18 left.
The Raptors finally seemed they had matters figured out late in the third quarter, taking a 12-point lead — the momentum seeming like it had swung on an overturned call that, correctly, went Toronto’s way. A layup by VanVleet, followed by a free throw from Siakam after officials reversed a call that he said he fouled Smart, gave Toronto a 78-66 lead with 2:46 left in the third.