Denver Nuggets 3-0 Los Angeles Lakers.
Murray scored an incredible 30 points in the first half. Jokic finished the fourth quarter with 15 points.
But the most important victory in Nuggets history came from the entire team:
Not "Jokic, Murray and their teammates," but the entire Denver Nuggets.
In the second game, Jokic made 23+15+9 in the first three quarters, Murray shot 5 of 17; Fourth, Kic shot 0-of-4 and Murray scored 23 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
- Murray scored 30 points in the first half today, did not score in the third quarter, and scored 7 points in the fourth quarter; Jokic scored 9 points in the first three quarters and 15 in the fourth.
At first glance it looks a bit like:
"The first three verses of my bag in the last game, the fourth verse of your bag; How about we exchange each other today? ”
However, the game was much more brutal.
Both sides open with bypass cover and disarm, and hold the restricted area; The Nuggets understood as soon as they saw the opening game, speeding up to chase, positional warfare is Murray's continuous blocking and takeover; The Lakers head iron, the opening consecutive transfers, multi-angle to thick eyebrows to create an inside opportunity, the Nuggets can see clearly: block the box, cut the pass, push the counterattack. The Lakers shot 4 of the first 18, and the Nuggets led by double digits early.
And then well... Today's referee is our old acquaintance, Scott Foster.
Today, the Fu referee was slightly injured and could not get out of the line of fire, and he was hit in the second quarter, the whistle flew, and his mouth was full of blood, which was magnificent. But the wound and fighting again did not hinder his usual style of blowing punishment.
Jokic was surrounded, coupled with lack of physical strength, and his shots were short; Catch up with the Lakers to empty Jeff Green and Gordon, retreat + bypass whenever Jokic blocks, resolutely do not let Jokic enter the middle, and the Nuggets can only rely on Murray:
In the quarter and a half, Murray had scored 26 points on 11-of-13 shooting.
The Lakers also tried using LeBron to match Murray's block, but in the end, it was Coach Hamm who made the key decision: after the timeout, Schroder came on and led Murray from the whole court.
Although Murray still scored an incredible 30 points in the first half, Murray shot 4-of-16 from the time Schroder defended him until the end of the game in the two-and-a-half quarter.
It was both Schroder's factors and physical strength — Murray shot 20 baskets in the first half — and in the third quarter, Jokic played four and a half points before committing a fourth foul, and Murray's pressure suddenly increased.
Murray was pestered. Jokic goes off.
With a thick eyebrow on the ball, Reeves stepped back and shot from distance, and the Lakers caught up.
Should this be the Nuggets' desperate situation?
But the Nuggets small ball formation, a wave opened again.
Blowing down Jokic, the Lakers did not seize the opportunity: at that time, the Nuggets were basically Murray + KCP + Bruce / Porter + Gordon + Jeff Green was present, and the Lakers still posed a three-forward lineup of LeBron + thick eyebrows + Hachimura; The Lakers lost focus for a while:
"Oh Jokic isn't there, let's go surround Murray", and indeed prevented: Murray was even forced to hit the top of the rebound with a shot, but KCP and Porter's three-pointers fired.
——In hindsight, maybe the Lakers should have been on the small ball team at that time? Or drop Russell, who has been targeted by the Nuggets? I don't know.
— Even LeBron finally opened his hand, made the first three-point shot of the series, and then scored in succession, but the Nuggets did not lose and bit hard. In fact, after LeBron started shooting three-pointers, the Lakers as a whole did not press the basket as well as in the second quarter. The Nuggets never let the inside line collapse.
Bite until Jokic returns in the fourth quarter.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Murray was finally able to rest, and Jokic played against the Lakers. Hachimura is deadly, Jokic still can't enter the middle road, but drill the bottom line, face basket, speed up and fight, the two sides are equal; But the game changed direction in 93: Murray had returned to play alongside Jokic, while LeBron was off:
He took a break of 48 seconds and the Nuggets hit two three-pointers, and when he returned, the Nuggets regained momentum and Murray made another three.
LeBron made a final three-pointer to try to save the game, but Jokic made a three-pointer and assisted Porter on a three-pointer: and that was the end of the game.
Jokic was blown down for 7 and a half minutes in the third quarter, and the Lakers didn't beat the Nuggets and were beaten by the Nuggets' small lineup speed.
LeBron sat for 48 seconds in the fourth quarter and the Nuggets took the opportunity.
The tougher side wins.
Murray scored 53 points in the third quarter from the fourth quarter of the second quarter. He shot 4-of-16 for the second two and a half quarters, but used his containment — thick eyebrows to take care of him — to keep the game going when Jokic wasn't there.
Bruce Brown, who signed up for 193 centimeters — who was reported by the draft to be a shooting guard who couldn't shoot, "averaged running and jumping, eating on aggressiveness, fast hands and all-round defensive skills" — was on the Lakers' towering interior, hitting two frontcourt rebounds and diligently closing gaps on the defensive end.
KCP, who won the championship with the Lakers three years ago, cut off Russell's pass in the third quarter, gave Bruce an empty catch, and then two deadly long-range shots.
Gordon ran around in the second half of the third quarter and also handed out the game, the Nuggets' only block.
After Jokic got off the court, Van Gundy on the sidelines said that since the Nuggets got Jokic down, they were still on the small ball team, then "Porter Jr. has to grab rebounds!" Not only that, Porter Jr. is even holding a thick eyebrow: today he made four three-pointers that are not great, but the team's highest 9 defensive rebounds and 6 assists:
Passes sent by Jokic and Murray, he made the second pass; There is a gap in the teammate when pushing the counterattack, and he can find it.
Off-topic:
In 2017, when Porter Jr. won the McDonald's All-Star MVP, he was considered a top two high school student in the country. Then there was the college injury and surgery, and he was once considered a potential champion, entered the industry in 2018 in 14th place, and did not play in his first year; The third grade just got a big contract, and he was injured all season. We all know that he is 208 cm and was the top scorer in the country in high school, but defensive confrontations and shots always have ups and downs.
——Two years ago, he also said that his favorite is Durant and Curry, and he hopes that his role is "Durant + Giannis", but when he needs to be ruthless, he can't be ruthless.
Until today.
Porter Jr. can shoot this well-known, but today's benefits:
He grabbed the rebound, he passed, and he raised his eyebrows with Gordon after Jokic got off the court. Today's 6 assists is the highest in his career – regular season + playoffs.
The Nuggets have always been a little off-track: the best scorer with the ball is playmaker Murray, the best passer is center Jokic, the best perimeter leader is power forward Gordon, the best shooter is small forward Porter, and the most efficient block per unit time is Bruce Brown at 193 cm...
The common winning pattern is that Jokic instigates everything, Murray + Jokic switch to direct attack and score, and others cut inside and outside to add bricks.
In the two away games against the Suns, Jokic scored 53 points and 10 assists in one game, and played 30+17+17 in one game: this is the Nuggets' previous away game: watch Jokic make some history and so on.
But in the first half today, Murray took over everything; The third saving Kic was blown down, and everyone began to carry the bits and pieces:
KCP also held the ball and made strong shots, Porter Jr. also instigated passes, and Bruce Brown became the chief attack basket for a while...
In order to win, everyone is doing something, even if they are not good at it.
It waited until the fourth quarter when Jokic came back to finish up.
This is the first time in the history of the Denver Nuggets that they are so close to the Finals, so it is arguably the most important victory in their history to date.
It was a victory that didn't rely on Jokic's usual 30-point triple-double (today was his worst playoff game of the season). Instead, Murray covered the first half, and in the second half, the whole team as a team, under various unexpected chaos, divided labor and cooperated, and carried it abruptly.
Murray said after the game, don't force the mess, let the game slowly come to its own rhythm - so in the first half, so with the fourth saving Keic, Porter's pass, KCP's long-range shot, Bruce's inside cut.
It was a victory for the Denver Nuggets team.
In the third verse, I thought of the unyielding struggle in the third section, thinking of Kiyota Nobunaga's shout before the button of Lingnan's breakthrough:
"How can you always rely on Mu!"
After today's game, coach Malone said very emotionally about Murray's time. He made a name for himself in the 2020 Park before being seriously injured the following season. At that time, he vowed to his coach that he would definitely come back and be stronger than ever. He also asked the coach: Will you trade him?
Coach Malone said no: wait for you to come back.
The same goes for Porter Jr. last season.
In the playoffs last season, Jokic's second- and third-leading attackers were Monte Morris and Will Barton, and the Nuggets were short of personnel to the point where they had to let his son play 22 minutes per game.
Today's third quarter, when Jokic left the court, Murray, Gordon, Porter, Bruce Brown, and KCP fought to carry the Lakers - of these, only Gordon played last season playoffs for the Nuggets.
Wait patiently and wait for a whole brand new Denver Nuggets to change.
Jokic: I've been fighting for so many years, can't I enjoy it?
So today's victory is like fate rewarding the Nuggets for the past two years, all injuries and illnesses, hard work, patience polishing, trust and waiting.