Jamal Murray leads Denver Nuggets to another win, forcing decisive Game 7 against Utah Jazz
Win or go home has become winner take all for the Denver Nuggets.
After facing elimination for a second consecutive game, the Nuggets forced a decisive Game 7 with a 119-107 win over the Utah Jazz on Sunday.
“Game 7 is going to be unbelievable,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said from Lake Buena Vista, Fla. “I can’t wait for it. I’m just really proud of our guys.”
Unbelievable could also describe Jamal Murray’s offensive output in Games 4, 5 and 6. Murray scored 50 in Game 4 and repeated the feat Sunday after a 42-point outing in a Game 5 win with the Nuggets facing elimination for the first time. Malone said he’s been around some of the greats of this current generation of basketball players — LeBron James, Chris Paul, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson to name a few — but no one has measured up to Murray of late.
“I’ve never seen a guy go 50, 42 and 50 and two of those games being elimination games,” Malone said. “So, talk about a young man putting a team on his back and that will to win — to do whatever is necessary to find a way to get the win — is tremendous.”
After 17-of-24 shooting from the field while wearing shoes displaying portraits of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, two unarmed Black people recently killed by police, Murray became emotional in his postgame TNT interview and was captured taking a moment to himself after helping the Nuggets even the series at three games apiece.
“When you’re fighting for something, it means a whole lot more,” Murray said.
Donovan Mitchell led Utah with 44 points in another showdown with Murray, but the Nuggets got a second consecutive win to keep their season going.
“He’s playing amazing,” Nikola Jokic said of Murray. “Not just scoring wise, his energy, his leadership, he’s really playing at high level, a superstar level.”
Jokic added 22 points and nine assists for the Nuggets, while Jerami Grant added 18 points.
The Jazz opened up a 10-point lead in the first quarter, but the Nuggets led by five at halftime. Utah pulled within a point a couple of times in the third quarter, but consecutive buckets from Jokic helped the Nuggets take a nine-point advantage to the fourth quarter and win by double digits. Game 7 is scheduled for Tuesday.
“Our guys know what a Game 7 is like, and I think we can draw from that experience,” Malone said, noting his team won a Game 7 against San Antonio in last year’s first round and lost another Game 7 against Portland in the second round
“Hell of a win for us, but we have more work to do.”
The winner of Game 7 will face the Los Angeles Clippers in the second round. In Jokic’s eyes, the Nuggets are 2-0 this postseason in decisive games.
“To be honest, it was Game 7 the last two games for us. It was win or go home for us,” Jokic said.
“We are not going to quit. We’re going to play for each other, whatever happens.”
With Tuesday’s series finale being a winner-take-all matchup, the Nuggets have established another player they can count on in the clutch.
“My team is trusting me. I think that’s one of the biggest things. When I go to coach and I say ‘do this, do that’ they trust me. I try not to let them down. They believe in me, I believe in them,” Murray said. “We’re trying to be the 12th team to come back from down 3-1.”