JAMAL Murray scored 24 of his game-high 43 points in the second half, and the host Denver Nuggets pushed the Los Angeles Clippers to the brink of elimination with a 131-115 win in Game 5 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series on Tuesday night.
Denver has won the past two games to take a 3-2 lead in the first-round matchup. Game 6 is Thursday night in Los Angeles.
Murray scored 11 points in a momentum-turning third quarter and added 13 more in the fourth, the last on a 3-pointer with 2:13 left that put the Nuggets up by 20.
Nikola Jokic had 13 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds — his third triple-double of the series — for the Nuggets, who never trailed. They led by 22 in the fourth quarter for the second straight game, but unlike Saturday, they didn’t give away the entire lead.
Cade Cunningham scored 24 points, Ausar Thompson added 22 and each made a clutch shot in the final two minutes to help the visiting Detroit Pistons avoid elimination in the first round of the playoffs with a gritty 106-103 victory over the New York Knicks in Game 5 on Tuesday.
The Pistons sent the series back to Detroit for Game 6 on Thursday. If the Pistons can win at home for the first time in the series, the teams would return to New York for Game 7 on Saturday.
“We’re hungry, man,” Cunningham said. “We gave both games away at the crib. Our fans did a great job of coming out, giving us a lot of energy. We dropped both of those games. We’re all excited to be able to get back home.”
The Clippers used a 17-4 run to get within 116-107 with 4:01 left, but Aaron Gordon hit a layup, Murray made a free throw after a transition foul and then a fallaway jumper, and Gordon drained a 3-pointer to seal it.
Russell Westbrook, who missed Game 4 with a foot injury, scored 21 points off the Denver bench. Gordon had 23 points, Michael Porter Jr. contributed 14 points and Christian Braun had 11 points and 12 rebounds.
The Nuggets shot 17-for-33 (51.5 percent) from 3-point range.
Los Angeles’ James Harden was held to 11 points on 3-for-9 shooting but Kawhi Leonard had 20 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds and Ivica Zubac added 27 points.
Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 18 points, Kris Dunn had 15 and Norman Powell put up 12 for the Clippers.
Porter opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer and a three-point play, Murray drained one from deep and fed Westbrook for a 12-footer to make it 110-88 before Los Angeles closed within nine.
Murray and Porter hit 3-pointers to spark a 10-2 run at the start of the third quarter, and the Nuggets went ahead 84-67 midway through the period.
The Clippers scored seven points in 43 seconds to get within 88-80, but Braun’s 3-pointer made it 99-83 heading into the fourth.
Denver won 101-99 at Los Angeles on Sunday when Gordon dunked at the buzzer.
