Murray, Jokic lead Nuggets to romp over Clips in Game 7
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Denver’s dynamic duo of Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic led another stunning turnaround as the Nuggets advanced to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2009.
Murray scored 40 points, Jokic had a tripledouble by the third quarter and Denver again overcame a doubledigit deficit to shock the Los Angeles Clippers 10489 in Game 7 on Tuesday night.
Denver became the first team in NBA history to rally from a 31 series deficit twice in the same postseason.
Even more history: The Nuggets are the third team in the U.S. major pro sports to rally from a pair of 31 deficits in the same playoffs, joining the 1985 Kansas City Royals and 2003 Minnesota Wild.
Denver will face LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in the conference finals. Game 1 is Friday.
Jokic, a 7footer, had a huge game with 16 points, 13 assists and 22 rebounds, which were the most by a Denver player in an NBA playoff game. He broke his record of 19 that he had last season and shared with Marcus Camby.
In a familiar trend, the Nuggets found themselves down by 12 in the first half. They also trailed 6154 with 10:50 let in the third when they caught fire. The Nuggets went on a 3513 run to build a 15point lead in the fourth quarter.
Murray helped the Nuggets pour it on down the stretch to give heads coach Michael Malone a 49th birthday present.
The team also rallied back from doubledigit margins in its previous two games to stun the Clippers.
Despite the additions of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, the Clippers fell short of the conference finals, where they’ve never been. They fell to 08 alltime in games in which they could clinch a trip to the conference finals. Heat 117, Celtics 114: Jimmy Butler’s threepoint play with 12 seconds left put Miami ahead for good, Bam Adebayo finished it off with a stunning rejection of Jayson Tatum at the rim on the ensuing Boston possession, and the Heat struck first in the Eastern Conference finals with a Game 1 victory.
The Heat were down by 13 in the opening minutes, down by 14 in the final quarter and thought a bad call took the lead from them in the final seconds. They found a way in overtime, improving to an NBAbest 91 in these playoffs.
Goran Dragic led Miami with 29 points. Jae Crowder scored 22, Butler had 20 and Adebayo had 18.