The victory of the Denver team for the second time in this series was determined by Jamal Murray’s winning shot.
The Canadian suffered from calf pain before the match, due to which he could even miss the meeting, but the defender still ran on the floor with 3.6 seconds left. hit a mid-range shot to seal a dramatic victory for the Nuggets.
He also hit the game-winning shot in Game 2 of the series, when his buzzer-beater shot led Denver to a 101-99 victory.
The Nuggets are eliminating their rivals from Los Angeles for the second season in a row: last year they triumphed 4-0 en route to the title.
As then, the Lakers came close in each of their four-game losing streak, but eventually ran out of steam and luck.
In Game 5 of the series, the Nuggets finished the first quarter better with a 10-0 run to win 28-24, but the Lakers responded with a 12-0 run in the second quarter to take a 41-34 lead. In the middle of the match, the guests from California led 53:50.
After the long break, they were also down by 9 points (69:60), but the Lakers’ situation was complicated by Anthony Davis’ shoulder injury.
Although the tall man, who scored 16 points before the injury, continued to play despite the pain, he scored just 1 point the rest of the match and did not remind himself.
Taking advantage of that, the Nuggets went on a 19-5 run in the third quarter and took the initiative – 79-74.
The Lakers were able to stay in the game and kept pace with their opponents in the decisive minutes of the fourth quarter until LeBron James’ layup with 26 seconds left. equalized the result by throwing two penalties.
However, in the decisive attack J.Murray did not make a mistake, and his response was 3.6 seconds. the Lakers still had no time to create anything – Los Angeles team coach Darwin Ham had already used all the minute breaks, so Taurean Prince had to make a desperate half-court shot that missed the goal.
J. Murray was the most productive among the winners – he scored 32 points in 40 minutes (8/18 doubles, 5/10 triples, 1/1 penalty) and made 7 assists.
The Lakers were led by 39-year-old L. James, who played as many as 44 minutes, scored 30 points (8/14 doubles, 3/7 triples, 5/7 penalty), made 11 assists, rebounded 9 and intercepted 4 balls.
The performance capped the 21st season in King’s career. If he continues to play next season, LeBron will be tied with Vince Carter, who is the only NBA player to have played for 22 years.
In the semifinals of the Western Conference, the Nuggets will face the Minnesota Timberwolves club, which surprisingly easily handled the Phoenix Suns 4-0.
This team also played in the playoffs last season, when the Nuggets won 4-1 in the first round.
Denver reached the conference semifinals for the 13th time in 48 years of playing in the NBA. The Nuggets have played in the West Finals five times and the only time in the NBA Finals was last year, when they became the league champions for the first time.
Nuggets: Jamal Murray 32 (8/18 doubles, 5/10 triples, 7 rebounds), Michael Porter 26 (5/7 triples), Nikola Jokic 25 (11/16 doubles, 20 rebounds, 9 rez., kld.).
Lakers: LeBron James 30 (8/14 doubles, 3/7 triples, 11 assists, 9 rebounds), Austin Reaves 19, Anthony Davis 17 (8/11 doubles, 15 rebounds), Rui Hachimura 15, D’Angelo Russell 14 (2/10 3-pointers, 6 rebounds).
