The Denver Nuggets have erased a 19-point deficit to defeat Patty Mills' San Antonio Spurs and even their NBA playoff series at 1-1.
The Spurs appeared to be cruising to their second consecutive road win in their western conference first-round showdown but a late shooting explosion by Jamal Murray gave the Nuggets a 114-105 win in Denver.
The Nuggets outscored the Spurs 39-23 in the final quarter on Tuesday.
Australian point-guard Mills had a quiet night with five points and five assists in 20 minutes off the bench.
Murray, who had been in a shooting slump in the series and missed his first eight shots in the game, connected with his last seven to lead Denver with 24 points, after coach Michael Malone told him to persevere.
"I played horrible for three quarters and he told me to keep shooting," Murray said.
The Nuggets went on a 16-4 run in the third quarter and continued their hot shooting in the fourth.
Malone said the turning point came when the deficit was 16 points midway through the third period and he called a timeout to remind his team of the Los Angeles Clippers' playoff record 31-point comeback win against the Golden State Warriors earlier in the week.
"I said it is only going to happen if we believe, we commit and we fight and the guys took it to heart and we closed the game on a 57-32 run," he said.
The Spurs were led by DeMar DeRozan's 31 points.
The next two games of the best-of-seven series are in San Antonio, starting on Thursday.
"It’s on us to go home and do what we need to do," DeRozan said.
In other play-off games, the Toronto Raptors, powered by Kawhi Leonard’s 37 points, beat the Orlando Magic 111-82 to even their series at 1-1.
Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 114-94 to take a 2-0 lead on the back of 33 points from CJ McCollum and 29 from fellow guard Damian Lillard.
The Thunder’s New Zealand centre Steven Adams had 16 points and nine rebounds while point guard Russell Westbrook shot just 25 per cent from the field to finish with 14 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists.
After a shock first-up loss on their home court to the east's seventh-seeded Magic, Toronto got off to a flyer and were never headed.
Leave a Reply