DENVER — The Denver Nuggets, the second seed in the Western Conference, were down by 16 to the San Antonio Spurs and about 18 minutes away from falling into a disastrous 0-2 hole.
Denver coach Mike Malone called for timeout with 5:45 remaining in the third quarter with his team trailing 73-57 and conjured up the LA Clippers pulling off their big comeback win against Golden State to motivate his team.
“I could see on some guys’ faces, which way is this game going to go,” Malone said. “…I reminded them what the Clippers did last night and how much basketball is left. It’s only going to happen though if we believe, we commit, we fight and we attack and the guys took it to heart and we closed the game out on a 57-32 run from that point on.”
The Nuggets would trail by as much as 19 in the third but with Jamal Murray erupting for 21 of his 24 points in an explosive fourth quarter, the Nuggets completed a potentially season-saving comeback. They notched their first playoff win of the postseason to even the best-of-seven series at 1-1 with a 114-105 victory over the Spurs.
While the Nuggets didn’t overcome a 31-point deficit like the Clippers did in a 135-131 victory on Monday night to shock the defending champs, Denver did overcome a 19-point deficit with 4:28 remaining in the third to hand coach Gregg Popovich something he doesn’t experience often in his storied career. This was tied for the third-largest blown lead by the Spurs under Popovich in the playoffs.
“We gave up [39] points in the fourth quarter, end of story,” Popovich said after the loss. “…Paul [Millsap] and Jamal [Murray] had a lot to do with that obviously. They both hurt us badly and we didn’t have any answers for either one of them.”
With much of the Nuggets team experiencing the postseason for the first time, Denver came out and fell behind by 19 in the second quarter. Millsap, one of the few Nuggets with playoff experience, scored 15 points in the first half and kept Denver from falling behind by much more.
Murray and Will Barton couldn’t get a shot to fall in the first three quarters, combining to go 1-for-18 during that span.
After shooting 8-for-23 and missing all six of his 3-point attempts in Game 1, Murray remained an hour after the game to get shots up on the team’s practice court late into night on Saturday after Denver’s 101-96 Game 1 loss. In the final 57.7 seconds of that game, Murray missed a 3-pointer, an open 18-footer that would have put the Nuggets ahead and turned the ball over.
“Just mental bounce back,” Murray said of what the two days in between games were like for him mentally. “Obviously wasn’t happy with myself, frustrated. The way I played … I rushed everything. I was excited. I let the crowd, the amazing energy get to me. I wanted to go into Game 2 relaxed.”
He tried to set off the Pepsi Center at the start of Game 2 but missed what would have been a thunderous dunk early. At halftime, Malone told Murray to calm down and to just breathe.
“He was so frustrated at halftime, not making shots, shots that he’s made his whole career,” Malone said. “I just grabbed him and told him take a deep breath. Every shot right now is like the end of the world.”
Meanwhile, Murray’s point guard counterpart, Derrick White, was following up his breakout Game 1 performance by making 7-of-10 shots and scoring all 17 of his points in the first three quarters.
Gary Harris scored 14-of-his-23 points in the third quarter to keep the Nuggets within striking distance entering the fourth. Murray, who had missed all eight of his shots and had only three points after three quarters, walked onto the floor at the start of the fourth and looked at the sold-out crowd of 19,520.
Murray said seeing all the fans waving their playoff towels reminded him of his childhood dream of playing in front of a sold-out playoff crowd.
Then, Murray caught fire. He hit eight straight shots coming in all kinds of variety — pull-ups, fadeaways, 3-pointers. And then in a 19-second span, Murray delivered a one-two punch that knocked the Spurs out. He hit a fadeaway 3-pointer and then Rudy Gay lost the ball. Murray came down and drilled a pull-up 3-pointer in front of the Spurs bench and Popovich to give the Nuggets a 110-101 lead with 2:12 as Pepsi Center erupted.
Murray pumped his fist and then pulled out his trademark “Blue Arrow” celebration at half court by the scorer’s table as the playoff towels were waving everywhere.
“Pretty perfect,” Murray said about that moment. “Just the way I imagined it. When I get into the zone, everybody knows I get in a zone. … I go crazy. I have a lot of fun. I love the game with a passion. I was hot and I decided to pull up.”
The series was tied 1-1 and now the young Nuggets go to San Antonio looking to steal home-court advantage back.
“He needs this,” Malone said when asked if there was any consideration to benching Murray in the fourth because he was cold. “…I didn’t foresee the fourth quarter he was going to have but I knew in my heart he needed to get these minutes, he needed to be out there, I needed to show him that I believed in him.”
“First of many for Jamal Murray,” Malone added of the point guard’s playoff performance. “I have no doubt.”