DENVER — Nuggets interim coach David Adelman sensed one of Jamal Murray’s patented playoff performances coming, and he was right on the money — just like his point guard.
Murray’s 43-point outburst powered Denver’s 131-115 win over the Clippers on Tuesday night that handed Los Angeles its first back-to-back losses since March 4 and put the Nuggets one win away from a Round 2 matchup with Oklahoma City.
Murray was 17-of-26 shooting, including 8 for 14 from long range.
“Tonight, he played great,” Kawhi Leonard said. “He came out, made shots, got hot, found his teammates and we pretty much couldn’t stop him. He played amazing. Russ (Westbrook) came in and played great, as well.”
Westbrook scored 21 points in his return from a left foot injury, including 16 of them in 12 first-half minutes as Denver led wire-to-wire.
Adelman, the Nuggets’ interim coach, said some of Murray’s shots “were absolutely ridiculous. And I said before the game it’s coming with him. You know it is, in these big moments, these situations. He was born for this.”
This marked Murray’s best scoring game outside the Disney World bubble during the pandemic.
“When he’s aggressive, we’re a different team,” Westbrook said. “When he’s got that swagger and he’s going out and competing at the level he did tonight, we’re a tough team to beat.”
Murray got plenty of help, including 23 points from Game 4 hero Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic’s 21st career playoff triple-double (13 points, 10 rebounds, 12 assists) to go with Christian Braun’s double-double (11 points and 12 rebounds).
Braun also provided stellar defence of James Harden, who scored 11 points on 3-of-9 shooting with four turnovers. For the second straight game, he didn’t speak with reporters afterward.
And for the second consecutive game, Denver took a 22-point lead early in the fourth quarter only to watch the Clippers go on a furious run.
In Game 4, L.A. erased its entire deficit only to lose 101-99 when Gordon’s buzzer-beater provided the first walk-off dunk in NBA playoff history. This time, the Clippers went on a 17-4 run to cut their deficit to single digits at 116-107, but the Nuggets fended off another frenetic finish by going on an 11-0 run with Murray scoring six and Gordon five to compel Clippers coach Tyronn Lue to empty his bench.
Game 6 is Thursday night at the Intuit Dome and another win by Denver would set up a second-round series against top-seeded Oklahoma City, which swept its first-round series with the Memphis Grizzlies.
Ivaca Zubac led the Clippers with a playoff career-high 27 points, Leonard added 20 and Bogdan Bogdanovic added 18.
Westbrook’s return allowed Adelman to use his bench more after all five starters logged at least 42 minutes in Game 4. Only Murray logged more than 40 minutes Tuesday night.
Murray “came out being aggressive, which we knew we would,” Lue said. “That’s why we started off with a blitz against him, just trying to slow him down. We knew in Game 5 he would come out aggressive, and he made every shot — pull-up 3s, mid-range. We blitzed him, we dropped, we switched, we did a lot of different coverages, but he had a hell of a game.”
“Holding Joker to 13 points and losing the game is tough. But that’s how they beat you. If you worry about him too much, other guys can beat you. But I just thought Jamal Murray was excellent tonight.”
