DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic hit a triple-double and Jamal Murray scored 35 points as the Denver Nuggets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 112-109 in Game 5 of their first-round playoff game Tuesday night.
Anthony Edwards, who led Minnesota with 29 points, hit the back iron on a 27-foot 3-point attempt at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime.
Jokic overcame a slow offensive start to finish with 28 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists. He only hit 8 of 29 shots, but scored eight points down the stretch to help the Nuggets fend off a pesky Timberwolves.
Michael Malone surpassed Doug Moe with his 25th playoff win as Nuggets coach.
The Nuggets will face the first-seeded Los Angeles Clippers and the Phoenix Suns in the second round. Those teams got tip-off later Tuesday night with the Suns needing another win to end the Clippers’ season.
Denver took the lead, making 32 of 36 free throws.
Michael Porter, Jr. was held without a basket until he dunked with 10:08 left in the game. Jokic missed eight of his first 10 shots 48 hours after tying his career playoff game with 43 points in a Game 4 overtime loss at Minnesota.
Carl Anthony Towns added 26 points for the Wolverhampton team, Rudy Goubert scored 16 points and 15 rebounds before he spoiled the net, while Nickel Alexander Walker scored 14 points.
The Nuggets got 14 points from Aaron Gordon and Bruce Brown, who was up against Edwards on the tying effort at the buzzer. Porter scored all eight of his points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of three-pointers after missing his first five shots from behind the arc.
The Nuggets entered halftime with the fifth lead in the series, but they were only 48-47 after Jokic and Porter combined to go 2-for-16 from the floor.
Murray, whose 16 first-half points kept the Nuggets in after trailing by 13 early on, grabbed a long rebound and pulled a 26-foot 3-pointer when no defender picked him up in transition. That put Denver ahead 48-45 with their first lead since the opening minutes.
The Wolves, who avoided a sweeping attack with an overtime win in Minneapolis on Sunday, jumped out to a 25-12 lead before the Nuggets began to fall behind.
Tip-ins
Timberwolves: Kyle Anderson, who sustained an injured left eye and a facial bruise in Game 4, hasn’t made the trip back to Denver so he can meet with some specialists, said head coach Chris Finch.
Nuggets: Denver has won a playoff series under Malone for the fifth time in the past five seasons. They were beaten in five games last year by the reigning champions Golden State Warriors when Jokic was without Murray and Porter, who were recovering from surgery.