Nikola Jokic triple-double leads Denver Nuggets to Game 7 win over San Antonio Spurs
Friday 8 November 2019 11:55, UK
Nikola Jokic had a triple-double and Jamal Murray finished with 23 points as the Denver Nuggets held on for a series-clinching 90-86 win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 7 of their Western Conference first-round matchup on Saturday night.
The second-seeded Nuggets advance to play the fourth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers in the conference semifinals, with Game 1 to take place on Monday in Denver. Jokic had 21 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists to back up his career-high 43-point showing in Game 6, while Murray produced perhaps the most crucial basket of the night to close out the win.
Rudy Gay had 21 points, DeMar DeRozan and Bryn Forbes scored 19 each and LaMarcus Aldridge had 16 points and 11 rebounds for seventh-seeded San Antonio.
The Nuggets led the whole way but had to sweat out the ending as Aldridge sank a layup to make it 84-80 with 4:13 left. San Antonio had a chance to get within one or two, but Forbes lost the ball on a drive to the basket, and Murray and Torrey Craig scored for Denver to make it 88-80.
Forbes hit a three-pointer before DeRozan split a pair of free throws with 1:10 left to make it 88-84. Forbes dunked after a Denver miss go make it a two-point game with 52.2 seconds left.
Murray drained a floating 14-footer make it a four-point lead, and Craig blocked DeRozan's drive to the basket with 28.4 seconds left. The Spurs didn't foul, and Denver was able to run the clock down and hold on.
After a cold-shooting first half, both teams started hitting shots. Denver made five of its first seven shots in the third quarter and built a 17-point lead. The Spurs got within 72-61 heading into the fourth.
The Spurs missed 17 of their first 19 shots and had just four points in the first nine minutes of the game yet trailed by only 13 points. Gay scored the last nine San Antonio points in the first quarter to keep it close.
The teams combined to go 2-for-22 from three-point range in the first half and made just 28 of 90 shots. The Spurs' 34 points at halftime matched what they scored in the first quarter of Game 6.
Jokic (15 points) and Gay (11 points) were the only two players to reach double figures in the first half.
Game 1 of the Nuggets' Western Conference semi-finals series against the Portland Trail Blazers takes place in the early hours of Tuesday morning (3:30am).
