Three-letter chants have been commonplace at Ball Arena this season, only this one sounded different.
“M-P-J” boomed throughout the lower bowl in the fourth quarter of Wednesday night’s tense Game 2 playoff game in homage to Denver’s supremely talented sniper. Michael Porter Jr. dashed Minnesota’s hopes with an enthralling 13-point fourth quarter as the Nuggets survived, 122-113.
Though Porter came alive in the fourth, Game 2 was Jamal Murray’s show. Without his stunning 40-point night, the Nuggets don’t head to Minnesota for Friday’s Game 3 up 2-0. Murray carved up the T-Wolves’ backcourt with six 3-point daggers and even more devastating dribble penetration as he went 13 of 22 from the field.
“The kid is a warrior,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said, joking they’d need to carry Murray onto the plane to Minnesota after playing 39 minutes.
If Game 1 was a reminder of Murray’s playoff credentials, Game 2 was a time capsule to his scoring eruptions in the Bubble.
By the time he exited with 11 seconds left in the fourth, Malone was imploring the crowd to roar.
Amazingly, perhaps MVP Nikola Jokic was the third star of the night. His 27-point, nine-assist, nine-rebound performance may have been overshadowed by his counterparts. That also could be a referendum on how special he is most nights.
Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards poured in 41 points to make it competitive, including six 3-pointers. But Denver’s defensive resilience in the fourth quarter swung the game after the visitors dug out of a 21-point hole to take the lead.
The Nuggets opened the third quarter like the game was already over. Their defensive urgency, which had built them the lead in the first place, evaporated. Minnesota played more aggressively and more physical. The Timberwolves busted open a 20-6 run to start the third quarter and eventually took the lead.
When center Rudy Gobert caught Jokic in the head following a missed shot, the Nuggets’ superstar stayed down for a few moments. He wasn’t hurt, but he was indicating the knock officials had missed. After a couple of Denver timeouts, Jokic started hunting for his offense. Sensing the moment, so did Murray. He drained two clutch 3-pointers, including one off a mismatch on Gobert to steal some momentum back. But having yielded a 40-point quarter, Denver trailed 89-87 heading into the fourth.
Prior to Game 2, Malone lamented the “random” offense he saw too often in Game 1. In fairness, he had to nitpick something.
Asked about the difference between random offense and the Nuggets’ preferred improvisational style, Malone got at the principles of his team’s attack.
“I think it’s sometimes dependent on the flow of the game,” Malone said. “When we’re playing well and the ball is moving, and even though we may not be in a set, the floor is spaced, and we have activity. We get in trouble sometimes during the season when teams are going on a run, and we stay within that random offense.
“That’s when we need to get organized, get into a set, and have proper spacing,” he said. “It’s definitely a balance for our team because we have a lot of guys who are so used to playing with each other and off of each other. It can be really impactful. Against this team, we don’t just want to come down and not be organized after a made field goal. Off misses, get out and run, attack, play random. But, when they score or there’s a dead ball, we have to get organized.”
After Malone insisted his team run whenever possible, they took off like a track meet in the first half on Wednesday. Denver’s 64-49 halftime lead was built on forcing turnovers and flipping the floor. The Nuggets’ 19 first-half fast-break points were a testament to their plucky defense.
When Bruce Brown ripped the ball away from an unsuspecting Karl-Anthony Towns and took off for a jam, it was a perfect encapsulation of how the first two quarters went. Murray, who led the Nuggets with 18 points at the break, had already enacted the same sequence earlier in the game.
Everything seemed to break in favor of Denver. Towns got in foul trouble, as did Edwards. With one second left on the shot clock, Jokic buried his lone 3-pointer of the half from the wing.
The Nuggets dominated the paint 36-18, as the driving lanes parted like the Red Sea.
If it wasn’t Jokic assaulting his interior matchup, then it was Murray exploiting his. The two combined for 32 points in the first half, building a lead that ballooned to 21 at one point.
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