DENVER (AP) — Jamal Murray has never had this kind of performance with such an ear-cutting voice to go along with it.
Murray scored 40 points and Michael Porter Jr. 13 of his 16 in the fourth quarter, leading Denver Nuggets the past Minnesota Timberwolves 122-113 on Wednesday night for a 2-0 series lead in the NBA.
Murray hadn’t even made a 30-point playoff game at Ball Arena — his 50-point postseason performance came in Florida’s NBA bubble in 2020.
“It’s nice,” Murray said. “It’s nice to have a crowd. They got me going. It motivates us and gives us so much life even when we’re not giving our best.”
Nuggets coach Michael Malone called it a “passionate and honest performance,” and gave a big hug to Murray as he pulled him out in the final seconds and implored the crowd to show their appreciation.
.acf-block-preview .instagram-twitter-container {width: 340px; margin: 0 auto; }
“I knew they were going to do it anyway, our fans are great,” said Malone. “But just to reward him and acknowledge the effort he just put in. He left a piece of it tonight.”
Nikola Jokic added 27 points, nine assists and nine rebounds for the Nuggets, who blew an early 21-point lead and trailed 89-87 before the fourth quarter.
Anthony Edwards had 41 points for the Wolves, who shot 81% in the third quarter to erase a 64-59 halftime deficit.
“They were the aggressors at that moment,” Jokic said. “I think in this situation we just need to relax and play the right way.”
Minnesota only shot 39% in the first half, slightly better than in a29 loss pointsin the series’ opening Sunday night.
“We knew at some point we were going to see aggressive coyotes and attack the Timberwolves,” Malone said. “In that third quarter we saw that and they put in a great performance and we didn’t defend in the third quarter, but I was proud of how we responded in that fourth quarter.”
.acf-block-preview .instagram-twitter-container {width: 340px; margin: 0 auto; }
The series moves to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday night.
The Nuggets’ recovery began in the fourth quarter with Porter scoring eight straight points—on a four-point game, a reversed layup and two free throws—but the Nuggets couldn’t shake the energetic Coyotes, who bounced back and took a 99-98 lead on Edwards’ birdie.
Porter responded with a three-pointer that put Denver’s lead back for good.
“We can’t wait to get down 20 or 15 in the first half and try to figure out how to get back in the game,” Edwards said. “If we find something tonight, we have to stick to it in the first quarter.”
Rudy Gobert scored 19 points but was whistled for a technical foul while claiming his fifth foul, a kick to Jokic’s back. It was teammate Kyle Anderson — who had been punched by Goubert in the Timberwolves’ last regular season game — who calmed Goubert.
Murray led the counterpunch to the Minnesota big run in the third quarter, something he hasn’t been able to do in the last two seasons as he recovered from a torn left anterior cruciate ligament.
“That was tough, just sitting back and watching,” Murray said.
And only dreaming of nights like this.
var adServerUrl = “”; var $el = $(“#video_container-148689”); var permalink = $el.closest(‘.snet-single-article’). data(‘permalink’);
/* if (“1” == true && ‘undefined’! == typeof window. getIndexAds) {var so = {preroll: {1: {1: {siteID: 191888}, 2: {siteID: 191889}}} }; adServerUrl = window.getIndexAds(‘http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640×360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_sims=300 vp & output = wide & unviewed_position_start = 1 & ad_rule = 1 & vid = 6325418726112 & cmsid = 384 ‘so, permalink); } else {adServerUrl = “http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640×360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szpls=sqg=df = wide & unviewed_position_start =1&ad_rule=1&vid=6325418726112&cmsid=384”; } */ adServerUrl = “http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?=wide&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6325418726112&cmsid=384”; var adServerUrl_result = adServerUrl.includes(“cust_params”); var queryString = ”; if (adServerUrl_result) { var gettheDUFI = localStorage.getItem (“theRED_loc”)
if (gettheDUFI) { queryString +=”dufiid=” + gettheDUFI + ‘&’; queryString +=”ppid=” + gettheDUFI + ‘&’; var ppid = “ppid =” + gettheDUFI + ‘&’; }
var DUFI_IP = sessionStorage.getItem (“DUFI_IP”)
if (DUFI_IP) { queryString +=”dufiip=” + DUFI_IP + ‘&’; }
adServerUrl = adServerUrl.replace(/cust_params=/, ppid + ‘cust_params=” + encodeURIComponent(queryString));}
$el.after (unescape (“%3Cscript src = \”” + (document.location.protocol ==” https: “?” https://sb “:” http://b”) +” .scorecardresearch. com/beacon.js\”%3E%3C/script%3E”));
$(document).one (“ready”, function () { $(“#video_container-148689”).SNPlayer ({bc_account_id: “1704050871”, bc_player_id: “JCdte3tMv”, // autoplay: true, // is_has_autoplay_switch: false, bc_videos: 6325418726112, is_has_continuous_play: “false”, adserverurl: adServerUrl, section: “”, thumbnail: “https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/6325418726112-1024×576.jpg direct_url: “https://www.sportsnet.ca/nba/video/nuggets-murray-goes-on-a-heater-nails-step-back-three-to-reach-40-points/”}) ;});
var adServerUrl = “”; var $el = $(“#video_container-851298”); var permalink = $el.closest(‘.snet-single-article’). data(‘permalink’); /* if (“1” == true && ‘undefined’! == typeof window. getIndexAds) {var so = {preroll: {1: {1: {siteID: 191888}, 2: {siteID: 191889}}} }; adServerUrl = window.getIndexAds(‘http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640×360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_sims=300 vp & output = wide & unviewed_position_start = 1 & ad_rule = 1 & vid = 6325418726112 & cmsid = 384 ‘so, permalink); } else {adServerUrl = “http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640×360&cust_params=domain%3Dsportsnet.ca&iu=%2F7326%2Fen.sportsnet.web%2FVideo&ciu_szpls=sqg=df = wide & unviewed_position_start =1&ad_rule=1&vid=6325418726112&cmsid=384”; } */ adServerUrl = “http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?=wide&unviewed_position_start=1&ad_rule=1&vid=6325418726112&cmsid=384”; var adServerUrl_result = adServerUrl.includes(“cust_params”); var queryString = ”; if (adServerUrl_result) { var gettheDUFI = localStorage.getItem (“theRED_loc”) if (gettheDUFI) { queryString +=”dufiid=” + gettheDUFI + ‘&’; queryString +=”ppid=” + gettheDUFI + ‘&’; var ppid = “ppid =” + gettheDUFI + ‘&’; } var DUFI_IP = sessionStorage.getItem (“DUFI_IP”) if (DUFI_IP) { queryString + = “dufiip =” + DUFI_IP + ‘&’; } adServerUrl = adServerUrl.replace(/cust_params=/, ppid + ‘cust_params=” + encodeURIComponent(queryString)); } $el.after(unescape (“%3Cscript src = \”” + (document.location.protocol == “https:”? “https://sb”: “http://b”) + “.scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js \”%3E%3C/script%3E”)); $(document). one(“ready”, function() { $(“#video_container-851298”).SNPlayer({bc_account_id: “1704050871”, bc_player_id: “JCdte3tMv”, // autoplay: false, // is_has_autoplay_switch: false, bc18261:6325 , is_has_continuous_play: “false”, adserverurl: adServerUrl , section: “”, thumbnail: “https://www.sportsnet.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/6325418726112-1024×576.jpg”, direct_url: “ https://www.sportsnet.ca/nba/video/nuggets-murray-goes-on-a-heater-nails-step-back-three-to-reach-40-points/ “});});
.acf-block-preview .br-video-thumbnail::before {content: “”; Position: Absolute. highest: 45%; left: 50%; transform: translate3d (-50%, -50%, 0); -banana-transform: translate3d (-50%, -50%, 0); -ms-transform: translate3d (-50%, -50%, 0); -o-transform: translate3d (-50%, -50%, 0); -webkit-transform: translate3d (-50%, -50%, 0); width: 20px; height: 0px; border-top: 14 px solid transparent; border-left: 22px constant #fff ; border-bottom: 14 px solid transparent; margin-left: 3px; }
Zigzag air
This marked the first time the Nuggets went 2-0 in a series under Malone.
“What we need to do is not be complacent,” Mallon said. “If you’re going to be a great team, you’ve got to be selfish. Be selfish… man. Let’s pick up and start Game Three. Let’s not slack off.”
“That was my biggest concern tonight and it’s going to be my biggest concern going into Game Three. We know it’s going to be a crazy environment out there. Their fans have been asking about Denver. Well, here we come.”
Tip-ins
Timberwolves: Carl Anthony Towns scored 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting. In the series, he scored 21 points on 8-for-27 shooting. Edwards made 6 of 10 three-pointers, same as Murray.
Nuggets: Denver outscored Minnesota 19-3 on fastballs in the first half but finished with a 19-16 advantage only. … Murray quickly scored 14 points as the Nuggets hit 10 of their first 15 shots in the first quarter.
.acf-block-preview .br-related-links-wrapper { display: grid; grid template columns: repeat(2, 1fr); gap: 20px; }
.acf-block-preview .br-related-links-wrapper a { pointer-events: none; cursor: default; text-decoration: none; Black color; }