Jamal Murray came up with pivotal shots down the stretch as Denver Nuggets stays alive in the 2019-2020 NBA Western Conference first round playoffs with a 117-107 win over Utah Jazz in Game 5 on Tuesday night (Wednesday in the Philippines).
With both teams leveled at 101-all, Murray scored nine straight to help the Nuggets gain some separation before they sealed the victory with a three-pointer from Nikola Jokić with 23 seconds left.
Murray finished the match with 42 points, with 33 coming in the second half, to go along with eight rebounds and eight assists as the Nuggets trimmed the deficit to 2-3 forcing a Game 6 tomorrow.
Jokić had it going early as he scored 21 of his 31 points in the opening quarter, while Michael Porter Jr. and Jerami Grant contributed 15 and 13 markers, respectively, for the Nuggets.
Donovan Mitchell finished the match with 30 points, Filipino-American guard Jordan Clarkson chipped in 17 points and Joe Ingles found his rhythm with 13 markers for the Jazz.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles Clippers moved closer from reaching the second round following a 154-111 victory over Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of their best-of-seven series for a 3-2 advantage.
Paul George came alive for the Clippers with 35 points, including four outside conversions, while Kawhi Leonard added 32 markers and Montrezl Harrell had double-double 19 points and 11 rebounds./PN
