NBA playoffs: LeBron’s Lakers eliminated as Nuggets’ Murray hits late hoop
Al Jazeera
Jamal Murray hit the winner with 3.6 seconds left to send Denver Nuggets to the Western Conference semis with a 108-106 win over LA Lakers.
Jamal Murray hit a tiebreaking 14-footer with less than four seconds left to send the host Denver Nuggets to the Western Conference semifinals with a 108-106 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of a first-round playoff series.
The second-seeded Nuggets won the best-of-seven series 4-1 and will face the third-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference semifinals beginning on Saturday in Denver.
“This series definitely got us ready for the next series,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said, “but that being said, we’re going to have to play much better if we want to beat Minnesota.”
As he did in Game 2, Murray came alive in the fourth quarter and beat Los Angeles with a clutch jumper. He finished with a game-high 32 points, 12 in the fourth quarter, despite playing on a strained left calf.
Murray said of the deja vu moment, “It’s amazing. Those are shots that you dream of as a little kid and practise in your back yard, at the playground.”
