DENVER — The Denver Nuggets sent a message to Memphis Friday night, courtesy of a special delivery from Jamal Murray.
The guard, way off his game early, took charge late and finished with 22 points, 11 of them coming during a pivotal run in the fourth quarter.
Ignited by Murray, the Nuggets, the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, beat the second-seeded Grizzlies 113-97 and captured the season series, 2-1.
With 18 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists, center Nikola Jokic turned in the 101st triple-double of his career and 25th this season. The Nuggets are now 25-0 this season when Jokic submits a triple-double.
This game oozed with a playoff atmosphere, replete with hard fouls, technical fouls, momentum swings and a frenetic sellout crowd at Ball Arena.
The Nuggets improved to 29-4 at home — the best record in the NBA — and their 33-point explosion in the fourth quarter showed how formidable they are at a mile above sea level.
Out-played, out-hustled, out-muscled and out-shot, the Nuggets trailed the Grizzlies 58-50 at the half. It was an ugly game at that point.
The most-damning statistic: Denver, one of the NBA’s best shooting teams, was 2 for 13 on 3-pointers and opened the game shooting 0 of 11 behind the arc. The Nuggets didn’t make a 3-pointer until Bruce Brown connected with 3:34 left in the second quarter.
The Grizzlies weren’t exactly sharpshooters (7 for 22 on 3s and 18 for 47 overall in the first half), but they drained enough long shots to hold the edge.
The game stayed physical in the second half, but the Nuggets chipped away at the Grizzlies’ lead and tied the game at 80-all by the end of the third quarter.
Memphis suffered what could be a major injury when forward Brandon Clarke had to be helped off the court just before the end of the first quarter after sustaining what appeared to be a non-contact left leg injury. Clarke missed a free throw and took a step back with his left leg. After planting his leg behind him, Clarke fell and yelled out in pain. He had to be helped off the court and into the locker room without putting any weight on his leg.
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