Jamal Murray scored 27 points and Nikola Jokic had 26 points and 18 rebounds, leading the Denver Nuggets to a 110-101 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal on Saturday in the bubble near Orlando.
Paul Millsap and Gary Harris added 13 points each for the Nuggets, who evened the series at a game apiece. Michael Porter Jr. chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds.
Paul George had 22 points and eight rebounds and Ivica Zubac had 15 points and nine boards for Los Angeles. Kawhi Leonard had a sub-par performance with 13 points on 4-of-17 shooting, his lowest output of the playoffs. Lou Williams also scored 13, while JaMychal Green contributed 10 points and 11 boards for the Clippers.
After trailing by double digits for much of the contest, Los Angeles closed within 91-86 after a 3-pointer by George with 8:36 left. However, a basket by Jokic, consecutive 3-pointers by Harris and two foul shots by Jerami Grant increased the lead to 101-86 more than three minutes later.
A layup by Williams cut the margin to 104-96 but Harris nailed a 3-pointer with 1:37 remaining to boost the lead to 11. The Clippers pulled within eight again but two technicals on Patrick Beverley, who was ejected, allowed the Nuggets to clinch the win with free throws.
The Nuggets roared to a 44-25 lead after one quarter behind 15 points from Jokic. They shot 70.8 percent from the floor and converted 7 of 11 3-pointers. Jokic hit all three of his 3-point attempts.
Although Denver, which led by as much as 23 in the first half, cooled off in the second quarter, it managed to take a 72-56 advantage at the break. Jokic had 24 points in the first half as the Nuggets outshot the Clippers 56 percent to 47.7 percent.
For the game, the Nuggets made 45.1 percent of their shots to 40.9 percent for the Clippers.
—Field Level Media
