Jamal Murray scored 34 points, including six clutch free throws down the stretch, to lift Denver Nuggets to a gritty 116-112 NBA playoff win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.
The 22-year-old Canadian combined with Serbian Nikola Jokic to form a dynamic scoring duo as the Nuggets squared their second round Western Conference series at two games each.
Game four was another back-and-forth battle highlighted by Murray’s precision shooting and a fourth playoff triple-double from Jokic.
“The biggest part was mental,” said Murray on playing two playoff games just 40 hours apart. “We know what to do physically but that was a draining game and we had to come back with energy, face a great team. We were able to get what we wanted on offence and the stops on defence.”
Jokic had 21 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for his second straight triple-double and Murray, who led all scorers, was a perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line for Denver, who handed Portland their first playoff loss at home this season.
C.J. McCollum had 29 points and Damian Lillard added 28 for the Blazers.
Elsewhere, Kawhi Leonard scored 39 points and pulled down 14 rebounds to propel the Toronto Raptors to a 101-96 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers that knotted their Eastern Conference series at two games apiece.
Spanish centre Marc Gasol added 16 points and Kyle Lowry contributed 14 for the Raptors, which held ailing Sixers centre Joel Embiid to 11 points on two-of-seven shooting from the field.
After losing back-to-back games, Leonard said the Raptors’ mindset was to “come in and play hard”.
“The whole team concept was coming in and playing harder, being smarter and take your shots,” Leonard said. “We needed it. This is a big win, but we’ve got to come back and get it for game five.”
Good first half
Leonard scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a first half that finished with the Raptors holding a narrow 47-45 lead. It was the first time in his career that he notched at least 15 points and 10 rebounds in a half.
The result: Eastern Conference: Philadelphia 76ers 96 (Butler 29, Redick 19, Harris 16)lost to Toronto Raptors 101 (Leonard 39, Gasol 16, Lowry 14). Series tied 2-2.
Western Conference: Portland Trail Blazers 112 (McCollum 29, Lillard 28, Aminu 19) lost to Denver Nuggets 116 (Murray 34, Jokic 21, Millsap 21). Series tied 2-2.