Jamal Murray scored a game high 40 points and Nikola Jokic had a triple double as the Denver Nuggets stunned the Los Angeles Clippers, 104-89, in game seven to reach their first Western Conference finals in 11 years.
The underdog Nuggets became the first team in NBA history to rally from a 3-1 series deficit twice in the same postseason.
Jokic completed his triple double by the third quarter of yesterdady’s contest in the NBA’s quarantine bubble in Florida, finishing with 16 points, 13 assists and 22 rebounds.
His rebound count is the most by a Nuggets player in an NBA playoff game, breaking his old record of 19. Denver’s dynamic duo combined for 56 points.
“We are just improving. We have talks, we have fights, everything. We are like a couple,” Jokic said of playing with Murray.
An odd couple for sure. A Serbian and a Canadian pair that has engineered the biggest upsets of the 2020 postseason so far.
Denver will once again be the underdogs when they face LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in the conference finals beginning Saturday (PH time).
Kawhi Leonard managed just 14 points and Paul George finished with 10. Leonard shot six of 22 while George was four of 16 from the floor.
In the Eastern Conference finals, Bam Adebayo made a clutch block with 2.5 seconds left in overtime as the Miami Heat beat the Boston Celtics 117-114 in the opening game of the series.
Adebayo leapt high to take what appeared to be an easy dunk away from Celtics star Jayson Tatum to preserve the Heat’s slim lead, 116-114.
Adebayo then capped the scoring by sinking a free throw at the other end.
Tatum, who finished with a game high 30 points, missed a desperation 29-foot three-pointer at the buzzer.*AFP
