By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Ladies and gentlemen, we just witnessed a high-definition Jamal Murray domination episode.
With the chance to go up to a comfortable 2-0 lead against the talented Los Angeles Lakers squad in the ongoing NBA Playoffs’ Western Conference finals, Murray just sent in a fatal blow to the purple and gold after going unconscious in the fourth quarter to help the Denver Nuggets win Game 2, 108-103, last May 19, 2023.
Murray dropped 23 of his 37 points in the final frame and was the one who led the Denver avalanche after burying an insane double-clutch jumper to equalize the ball game at 81-all.
After hitting the tough shot, Murray began to catch fire and followed it up with a three-pointer from the right elbow, a step-back trey over Anthony Davis, and an early momentum-clinching long-distance trifecta against LeBron James that ballooned their lead to nine points, 93-84.
Murray’s berserk mode not only helped Denver retake the lead but it also went contagious as the likes of Michael Porter Jr. and Bruce Brown also joined the scoring party in the crucial minutes of the fourth.
Just when the Nuggets thought they could snowball their way to a dominant victory after Murray’s eruption, the Lakers still kept themselves within striking distance and even trimmed their deficit to just three points off an Austin Reaves three-pointer, 101-99, with only 1:08 remaining in the back-and-forth affair.
The Lakers again had a chance to score easy points after James stole Denver’s inbounding pass but the four-time NBA champion missed the reverse layup that would’ve cut the Nuggets’ lead to just a deuce.
Murray then iced the game after sinking both shots from the charity stripe when he got fouled, officially ending Los Angeles’ comeback effort.
Los Angeles started the ball game waxing hot and even established an 11-point lead but Denver kept on punching back and retook the advantage in the 9:22 mark of the fourth quarter after a Murray trey.
From there, the Lakers never had a taste of the lead again and could only watch Murray bury contested three-pointers to balloon Denver’s lead to as much as 12 points.
Nikola Jokic was still outstanding despite only shooting 9/21 from the field and tallied another triple-double stat-line of 23 points, 17 rebounds, and 12 assists.
Meanwhile, Porter Jr. found his stroke late in the second half and contributed 16 points, seven rebounds, and three assists while super sixth man Bruce Brown had 12 points, five rebounds, three assists, one block, and a steal.
The Lakers had a stellar outing from Rui Hachimura who made eight of his 10 total attempts for a 21-point production while James and Davis chipped in 22 and 18 points, respectively.
Denver will look to continue its terrific post-season run in Los Angeles on May 21, 2023, and will look to shock the world again in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.
