Murray Magic: Jamal breaks Lakers heart at the buzzer

DENVER—Jamal Murray’s night should’ve ended in sadness, the Denver Nuggets point guard just couldn’t get a shot to fall and his team just couldn’t get the lead back from the Los Angeles Lakers—that is, until the end.

Murray went magic at the buzzer, hitting a side-stepping mid-range shot over a starring Anthony Davis to complete a 20-point comeback and a 101-99 Nuggets win. Denver’s lead at the buzzer was their first since the first half. It was the biggest comeback win in Nuggets playoff history, scoring the franchise their 100th postseason win on the 47-year anniversary of the franchise’s first playoff win.

“I knew I’ve hit a couple shots on AD in history,” Murray said on the TNT broadcast moments after the shot fell.

MURRAY CALLED GAME.

WOW 😳 pic.twitter.com/MjrWbKqN3l

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 23, 2024

Meanwhile, Murray himself shot an awful 3-0f-16 in the first three quarters, held to just six points. That is until the fourth when he went six of his final eight for 14 points and the Nuggets earned a 10th straight win over the Lakers.

"I told my teammates when I was struggling, 'I'm gonna look for y'all. I'm gonna look for y'all.' And every single one of them told me to 'keep shooting, keep shooting. Be aggressive. Keep shooting.' Even when I was throwing up that bullshit floater."

– Jamal Murray. pic.twitter.com/KGJPFv8kha

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 23, 2024

Davis’ giant game where he hit 11 shots in the first wasn’t enough for the Lakers who were beating up the Nuggets badly for most of the night. Of course, Davis scored a buzzer-beater in a playoff game against the Nuggets years ago in the bubble, so it was a little sweet revenge for Murray.

The Nuggets are now up two games and will play the Lakers in Game 3 of the first round on Thursday night in Los Angeles. When the home team takes each of the first two games, they’re 206-18 in best-of-sevens in the NBA since 1984.