Jamal Murray’s breakout match against LA Clippers puts Denver Nuggets within a game of the second round of NBA playoffs.Jamal Murray scored 24 of his game-high 43 points in the second half, and the hosts Denver Nuggets pushed the Los Angeles Clippers to the brink of elimination with a 131-115 win in Game 5 of their Western Conference first-round series.
Denver have won the past two games to take a 3-2 lead in the first-round matchup. Game 6 is on Thursday night in Los Angeles.
Murray scored 11 points in a momentum-turning third quarter on Tuesday night and added 13 more in the fourth, the last on a 3-pointer with 2 minutes 13 seconds left that put the Nuggets up by 20.
Nikola Jokic had 13 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds – his third triple-double of the series – for the Nuggets, who never trailed. They led by 22 in the fourth quarter for the second straight game, but unlike Saturday, they did not give away the entire lead.
The Clippers used a 17-4 run to get within 116-107 with 4:01 left, but Aaron Gordon hit a lay-up, Murray made a free throw after a transition foul and then a fallaway jumper, and Gordon drained a 3-pointer to seal it. Advertisement
Russell Westbrook, who missed Game 4 with a foot injury, scored 21 points off th …
