Los Angeles Lakers v Denver Nuggets - Game One

Staff

Bucks Pacers Basketball

Knicks 76ers Basketball

76ers Knicks Basketball

Minnesota Timberwolves v Phoenix Suns - Game Four

Lakers Nuggets Basketball

Nikola Jokic,LeBron James,Anthony Davis

Nuggets Lakers Basketball

Oklahoma City Thunder v New York Knicks

Stringer

Dallas Mavericks v Los Angeles Clippers - Game Two

APTOPIX Lakers Nuggets Basketball

Philadelphia 76ers v New York Knicks - Game Two

Mavericks Clippers Basketball

Dallas Mavericks v Sacramento Kings

Lakers Grizzlies Basketball

Respond to prefers-color-scheme dark in app web views

Follow section front redirects in Spectrum

Enable NLP source in PCS for load testing

Switch off the News Alerts Survey Widget when we have enough responses

Poll to determine if new LUF updates are available

Allows the winning A/B test variant to be turned on without Spectrum deployment

Show infinite scrolling sections in Assembler MultiView

Show option for NLP article summaries in Action Bar

A general feature flag for Recipe Features that aren't yet released

Feature flag for media team features that aren't yet released

Use new Orca video player for preroll plugin in Spectrum

Show the snow tracker (instead of the heat tracker) on Spectrum

The 6 best things to do with kids in the D.C. area this weekend 

The 33 best things to do in D.C. this weekend and next week

Trevor Williams’s escape act helps Nationals blank Rangers 

NASA moon capsule suffered extensive damage during 2022 test flight

Russian state media ramping up English, Spanish presence on TikTok, study finds

Apple is behind in AI and killed its self-driving car project. What’s next?

Cat climbed into Amazon return box, found alive 630 miles away

Brave Little Hunter is free: Baby orca escapes lagoon for open seas

I learned to heal my sadness by cradling dying chickens 

Young Georgians want to be part of Europe. Their government is in the way.

On Press Freedom Day, little to celebrate for Hong Kong’s journalists

Taxes are inevitable. Paying to prepare them doesn’t have to be.

That time football legend, rig-driving eligible bachelor Biden was arrested

Trump and allies say Biden pays rent for ‘illegals’ in Michigan. Not true.

Eighty percent of Ukraine-Israel bill will be spent in U.S. or by U.S. military

Chinese EVs are good for the world. Biden says they’re bad for America. 

Why the Solomon Islands election matters to China and the U.S.

Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ like China, Russia, at campaign event

World Press Freedom Day, 2024

How Trump convinces Republicans to adopt extreme views

Campuses are grappling with the Gaza war. So are our columnists.

This masterpiece ‘Birth of Venus’ probably isn’t of Venus at all

The beginner’s illustrated guide to watching an F1 race

Wait, what is Stephen A. Smith talking about? Find out with our quiz.

Miss Manners: Offering my bedroom to guests

Ask Amy: My wife’s sister confessed her feelings for me

Carolyn Hax: Will request for a postnup offend much younger wife?

Stephen A. Smith would like even more of your attention

Local sports networks go dark mid-game amid dispute with Comcast 

What’s the best bus to New York? We tested 5 for comfort and value.

You asked: Do I need a passport for my cruise?

Adaptive equipment is making national parks more inclusive

Trump hush money trial live updates: Hope Hicks testifies about 2016 campaign, women

Jack Dempsey

Jamal Murray made sure the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/04/20/denver-nuggets-nba-title-defense/" target=_blank>Denver Nuggets</a>’ 10th straight win over the Los Angeles Lakers was the most backbreaking yet.

The defending champions erased a 20-point deficit to score a 101-99 home victory on Monday, as Murray drilled a step-back jumper over Anthony Davis at the buzzer to give Denver a 2-0 lead in its first-round NBA playoff series against Los Angeles.

With 20 seconds left and the score tied at 99, Lakers star LeBron James missed a three-pointer and the Nuggets collected the defensive rebound and elected not to call a timeout. Murray brought the ball up the court deliberately with Denver intent on taking the last shot of regulation, and he used a screen from <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/04/11/nba-awards-picks-nikola-jokic-mvp/" target=_blank>Nikola Jokic</a> to clear out against Davis on the right side of the court.

With three seconds left, Murray lunged forward and quickly slammed on the brakes, setting up a fallaway jumper to his right that swished through as time expired. The 27-year-old guard crashed into the Nuggets’ bench and was immediately mobbed by his teammates.

“I faked like I was going to shoot a three or do a step-back or something, and then [Davis] pressed up a little bit,” Murray said. “I just got to my spot, beat him to the spot, and was able to elevate and make it. I jumped pretty high and faded a lot. I lost balance and fell. I just saw the ball over the rim. I think [Davis] or somebody was in my way. I just heard everybody scream and that’s how I knew it went in. That was a pretty cool moment.”

Jamal Murray Hits Game-Winning BUZZER-BEATER vs. Lakers 🚨 | 2024 NBA Playoffs

The heroic shot capped a brilliant comeback for Denver, which started slowly and trailed by 20 points — 68-48 — with 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Davis staked the Lakers to an early lead and finished with 32 points (on 14-for-19 shooting) and 11 rebounds, but he picked up his fourth foul in the third quarter, which helped fuel the Nuggets’ comeback.

“I didn’t like how we walked off the court at halftime,” Nuggets Coach Michael Malone said. “I felt like we were feeling sorry for ourselves a little bit. They came in and were kicking our ass. We dropped our heads. I didn’t like our spirit and disposition. I told them at halftime: ‘There’s a lot of basketball left. This is a funny business.’ Our guys did that. This was a complete team win. ... We’re the reigning champs. We might get down by 20 points, but we’re not going to roll over.”

James did his best to stave off the Nuggets, scoring 12 of his 26 points in the game’s final seven minutes. The four-time MVP hit a pair of three-pointers during that stretch and then turned a steal into a transition dunk to give the Lakers a three-point lead with under two minutes remaining.

“We gave up a 20-point lead and that’s unfortunate, but 20-point leads in this league are not safe, especially against the defending champions,” James said. “We’ve got to do better with that. We had our chances.”

James’s chief source of postgame frustration was a replay review that went against the Lakers in the final minute of the third quarter. Russell drove to the basket and was given a foul when <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/04/21/michael-porter-jr-brothers-ban-sentencing/" target=_blank>Michael Porter Jr.</a> made contact with his head. However, Malone challenged the foul call and the replay center overturned it, concluding that Porter’s contact came after Russell had already released his driving shot attempt, which missed.

“I don’t understand what’s going on in the replay center, to be honest,” James said. “[Russell] clearly gets hit in the face on the drive. What the f--- do we have a replay center [for]? ... It doesn’t make sense to me. It makes no sense to me. It bothers me.”

The Nuggets replied to James’s late flurry with a three-pointer on a broken play from Porter, which set the table for Murray, who shot 3 for 16 through the first three quarters, to score seven points in the final minute. After making a pair of free throws and hitting a midrange jumper, he delivered his dagger over Davis to finish the job. Murray posted 20 points, three rebounds and five assists, making six of his eight attempts in the final period.

“That’s Jamal Murray right there,” Malone said. “He can struggle, he can struggle, he can struggle, but he sees one go in and he’s never shying away from the moment. That was just an incredible play. ... He got to his spot. It was great because everybody on the team, coaches and players, all night long kept telling Jamal to stay with it. We know what you’re capable of. We need you. ”

Jokic, who contributed several timely baskets and assists in the fourth quarter, finished with 27 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists. Hall of Fame centers Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are <a href="https://stathead.com/tiny/PRxwn" target=_blank>the only other players in NBA history</a> to match that stat line.

The Lakers must do their best to avoid agonizing over their incomprehensible result and regroup for Thursday’s Game 3 in Los Angeles. In addition to strong performances from Davis and James, guard D’Angelo Russell responded to a poor Game 1 showing by scoring 23 points and hitting seven three-pointers. Denver also shot just 8 for 34 (23.5 percent) from three-point range, marking its worst outside shooting performance since March 7.

“Win Game 3,” Davis said. “It’s that simple. We’ve shown that we’re more than capable. We have stretches where we just don’t know what we’re doing on both ends of the floor. Those are the ones that cost us. We’ve got two days to get it right."

Bubbleball

Johns Hopkins University

BA in Writing Seminars

Greatest Of All Talk

Ben Golliver joined The Washington Post as the National NBA Writer in 2018. An Oregon native, he lives and works in Los Angeles.

Ben Golliver

washpost

Nuggets rally from 20-point deficit to stun Lakers in NBA playoffs

the-washington-post

Wizards

Top 100 players

In-season tournament

prism://prism.query/site,/sports/nba&limit=20

Your source for Washington Wizards and NBA basketball news and information. Get the latest schedules, stats, rosters and scoreboards for the NBA. Stay updated on the latest Washington Wizards and NBA news!

National Basketball Association

prism://prism.query/site,/sports/wizards&limit=3

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wizards/

prism://prism.query/ap-articles-by-site-id,/sports/nba&limit=5

prism://prism.query/site-articles-only,/sports&limit=20

Sports

The Washington Post Sports section provides sports news, video, scores, analysis and updates about high school, college, and pro sports teams, including the Capitals, Nationals, Washington Football Team, United and Wizards. Post Sports also offers blogs and discussions about the latest sports news.