The Denver Nuggets are fighters and have managed to keep hope alive yet again in the second round qualifying series against the Clippers.
The Nuggets fought back and used a dominant fourth quarter display to take down the Los Angeles Clippers, 111-105 in Game 5 after trailing by as many as 16 points late in the first half.
Nikola Jokic was huge for the Nuggets once again finishing with 22 points, 14 rebounds, and six assists to cap another stellar performance, while Jamal Murray added 26 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists in one of his best games all series.
But while those two did their jobs, as usual, great gratitude should be showered on Paul Millsap who helped close the show.
The veteran forward stepped up in a major way in the third quarter to help drag the Nuggets back into the game, scoring 14 of his 17 points in the frame to give the Nuggets some life.
Watch the Game highlights below…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-Hb5VGCH8M
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George were dominant for the first three quarters and combined for 62 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists.
The Clippers, however, started to get a bit lackadaisical late in the third, and that continued into the fourth.
By the time they really woke up and locked back in on the defensive end, the Nuggets had the lead, and the Clippers couldn’t get it back. They’ll have to wait till Sunday afternoon to try and clinch their first conference finals appearance in franchise history.
Related: NBA Playoffs 2020: Lakers edge closer to Western Conference finals after beating Houston in Game 4
The Nuggets have found an overzealous spirit in the postseason. They went down 3-1 in the first round to the Jazz and pulled off an impressive comeback to keep their season alive.
They found themselves back in the same position against the Clippers who are far much a better team than the Jazz. After Game 5, we could be looking at another outcome like they did against Utah.
Before the game and for the first half of the game, it didn’t look like there would be any sort of major comeback this time. The Clippers jumped out to an early lead and were up to 16 points late in the second half.
L.A. dominated both ends of the floor, and hopes were fading for Denver and at that point, it would have been understandable if the Nuggets tucked in their tails.
But, that’s not what happened. They, hanging in there, kept hope alive, put in their very best, were getting a bucket here, and bucket there to make sure it didn’t get out of hand and then went on a run late in the third to get it into single digits.
They ensured the same energy was available early in the fourth, led on a rainbow three by Jokic, and never trailed again from then on, outscoring the Clippers 38-25 in the fourth quarter.
It’s now up to them to try and force a game seven if they can manage to even up the series in Game 6 to give us an epic show in the decider.
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