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DENVER – Jamal Murray slipped undetected on the right side of the field to the left before making a jumping interception on a long pass from the San Antonio Spurs in the manner of a stealthy corner halfback. Gary Harris then flew from behind and escaped from a layup of Patty Mills before landing in the stands, standing and posing for a few seconds.
The Denver Nuggets have finally played their best and most complete playoff game, and the No. 2 seed of the Western Conference is about to eliminate the Spurs. The Nuggets, who entered this playoff series without much experience in the playoffs, beat the Spurs 108-90 in Game 5 to take a 3-2 lead.
The Nuggets have won two straight games and are starting to look like the strength of the regular season they were at when they won 54 games. Perhaps even worse for the Spurs, the Nuggets seem to be starting to see and believe in their playoff potential.
"Just a glimpse of what we can do," Murray said of what Denver presented Tuesday night. "We're having a lot of fun right now, learning from mistakes, ups and downs, injuries all season and all that, whether it's in the playoffs or not, we're having a lot of fun and we're doing the job." "
The Nuggets reached their first first quarter of the series without ever looking back. They turned a four-point game into a 15-point lead just before the end of the first half with a 14-3 record. Murray started the race with five points, two assists, one rebound, one flight and one block during this period.
Denver then tipped the Pepsi Center by opening the third quarter with a 16-4 record that pushed San Antonio 23 down with 7:44 to make in the third.
Denver coach Michael Malone challenged Murray to be more consistent in this series. Murray was very competitive in the first three games and was also dominated by San Antonio leader Derrick White, especially in Game 3, when White recorded a career-high 36 points.
Since then, however, Murray has scored 24 points in the Nuggets Game 4 win at San Antonio, followed by 23 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 interceptions and 1 block while shooting 9 of 16 shots in 28 games. minutes Tuesday. .
Meanwhile, whites total 20 points and 8 shots out of 19 since the third game after Malone put Harris on White to start, while inserting Torrey Craig into the starting lineup for Will Barton and putting Craig on DeMar DeRozan.
Harris was a two-way nuisance for the Spurs, scoring 13 of his 15 points in the first period to help the Nuggets get the noisy crowd into the game while playing the physical defense against White and DeRozan, who finished with 17 points but shot 6-of-15 from the field.
Although Malone called Gregg Popovich, San Antonio coach, "Bobby Fischer" in the NBA coaching match, Popovich tried everything to stop the bleeding in the fifth match, without success.
Popovich managed to keep his sense of humor although his team shot 20 of his 46 goals in the paint, with several of the missed shots easily overlaid for the Spurs. According to ESPN Stats & Information, the 26 missed shots are tied for the second-most games played this season, including the playoffs.
"It was my best Bobby Fischer, tell Mikey that," ruthless Popovich after seeing his team back nearly 30.
What the Spurs have not yet solved is how to slow down Denver's All-Star center, Nikola Jokic. Jokic continues to be a triple double threat in the evening, collecting 16 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists in three quarters in the fifth game.
Jokic buried two 3-pointers in the final 39.6 seconds of the third quarter, which essentially served as a 1-2 combination to KO who finished the Spurs. Jokic now has an average of 19.6 points, 11.6 rebounds and 9 assists in his first playoff series.
"What Nikola did in his playoff debut did not happen very often in the history of this game," said Malone. "… I hope that among this public in the playoffs, public television national, people are listening to us and tell us, man, this kid Nikola Jokic is real."
If the Nuggets can play in the sixth game in San Antonio on Thursday as they did when they shot 50% and sometimes smothered the Spurs on Tuesday night, the NBA will have the opportunity to see what Denver can do in the second round against the Damian Lillard and Portland.
"This series is a first for all our players," said Malone about the lack of experience of his team. "First playoff game at home First playoff game on the road This is now our first opportunity to close a show, and most of our guys are not in this situation.
"All I said to them, is this: this will be the most difficult match of your career.Closing an opponent like San Antonio in their home gym is going to be one of the hardest things that we have never tried to do. "
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