Nuggets edge Jazz in Game 7 on late basket by Jokic
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[September 02, 2020]
The Denver Nuggets survived a
frantic finish to complete a rally from a 3-1 postseason deficit
Tuesday night, getting a go-ahead hoop from Nikola Jokic with 27.8
seconds remaining for an 80-78 victory over the Utah Jazz in Game 7
of their Western Conference first-round series in the NBA bubble
near Orlando.
The 4-3 win vaults the third-seeded Nuggets, who had never
previously rallied to win a series from down 3-1, into a
second-round matchup with the second-seeded Los Angeles Clippers,
beginning Thursday night.
After sixth-seeded Utah forged a 78-all tie on a Rudy Gobert dunk
with 47.5 seconds left, the Nuggets went to Jokic inside against the
Jazz's ace defender, and the Denver big man came through with a
short hook shot in the lane for the game's final points.
The Jazz had two subsequent possessions.
First, the Nuggets stripped the ball from Donovan Mitchell with 8.4
seconds to go. But rather than try to run out the clock, Denver
rushed the ball up the floor and watched Torrey Craig miss a
contested layup with 4.4 seconds remaining.
Gobert rebounded and got the ball to Mike Conley, who had a good
look at a potential game-winning 3-pointer just before the final
horn but had the shot rim out.
In winning for the third straight time after falling behind 3-1 in
the series, the Nuggets prevailed despite getting just 17 points on
7-for-21 shooting from Jamal Murray, who suffered a bruised thigh in
a collision with Utah's Joe Ingles in the second quarter and was
never the same.
Jokic paced the Nuggets with a game-high 30 points, completing a
double-double with 14 rebounds.
Michael Porter Jr. chipped in with 10 points off the bench for
Denver, which won despite shooting just 37.3 percent and scoring
only 30 points in the second half.
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Nuggets forward Jerami Grant (9) controls the ball against Utah Jazz
forward Georges Niang (31) and guard Mike Conley (ri10ght) during
the first half of game seven of the first round of the 2020 NBA
Playoffs at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Kim
Klement-USA TODAY Sports
After a slow start, Mitchell led the Jazz with 22 points, shooting
9-for-22, while Gobert had 19 to complement a game-high 18 rebounds.
Mitchell connected on a pair of 3-pointers (on eight attempts),
giving him 33 treys in the seven games and allowing him to break
Stephen Curry's single-series postseason record of 32, set in 2016.
Murray wound up with 32 3-pointers in the series, though he was just
1-for-6 from long distance on Tuesday.
Jordan Clarkson added 10 points for Utah, which had never previously
lost a playoff series in which it led 3-1.
After Mitchell's 13 third-quarter points had rallied the Jazz into
contention after they had trailed by as many as 19, Conley and
Gobert combined for all the points in an 8-0 run to begin the fourth
period and give Utah its first lead since the first quarter at
68-65.
Denver subsequently regained a four-point lead on two consecutive
hoops by Murray, the latter making it 78-74 with 1:43 to go.
But Utah made one last charge, rallying into a 78-all tie with 47.5
seconds to go on hoops by Royce O'Neal and Gobert, both assisted by
Conley, setting up the wild finish.
Mitchell was held to two points in the first 22 minutes, during
which the Jazz fell behind by as many as 10 in the first quarter and
19 in the second.
--Field Level Media
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