The Denver Nuggets will host the San Antonio Spurs Tuesday in Game 5 of a 2-2 series tie. Denver coach Mike Malone wanted more passion, fire, and emotion. The young Nuggets responded. Nikola Jokic had 29 points and 12 rebounds, Jamal Murray added 24 points and Denver beat the San Antonio Spurs 117-103 on Saturday night, rebounding from a flat performance to tie the first-round series at two games apiece.
“We can talk to until we’re blue in the face about it, ‘Hey, we’re going to hit them first, ‘and all that,” Malone said. “Go out there and do it.”
Denver Coming off Huge Feat
The Nuggets did so, winning in San Antonio for the first time since 2012. Denver had lost three straight postseason games in San Antonio dating to their last playoff matchup in 2007 and had also lost 13 consecutive regular-season games on the road to the Spurs.
“It’s an unbelievable win,” said Paul Millsap, one of the few Nuggets with previous postseason experience. “I can’t put into words the magnitude of this win.”
The Nuggets were more aggressive and physical after a deflating Game 3 loss, which was expected. What wasn’t expected was the flat response by the veteran Spurs.
“The Nuggets competed, and we did not,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. “Their physicality was obvious from the get-go. You knew that was going to happen and we did not respond. So, it was a very disappointing loss.”
Spurs Looking to Shake it Off
LaMarcus Aldridge had 24 points and nine rebounds for the Spurs. DeMar DeRozan added 19 points before he was ejected with five minutes remaining after throwing a ball past an official and into the stands.
“Frustration,” DeRozan said. “I mean, I thought it was a bad call.”
Malone fanned San Antonio’s frustrations with a couple of changes after Derrick White’s 36-point outing in San Antonio’s Game 3 victory. Torrey Craig started over a struggling Will Barton and was charged with defending White to open the game along with Gary Harris, with Murray switching to Bryn Forbes. The moves proved beneficial, if not at first.
“He’s a terrific defender,” Jokic said about Craig. “He’s helping us on defensive rebounds. So, he helps in that part of the game, and his defense is really phenomenal. And when he’s making shots like tonight, it’s a great job by him.”
White was limited to eight points on 3-for-8 shooting after going 15 for 21 on Thursday. Craig finished with 18 points, going 5 for 7 on 3-pointers. Barton finished with 12 points and made all three of his 3-point attempts.
“They executed their game plan better,” White said. “We kind of helped them by playing awful.”
Down by 12 in the first quarter, Denver outscored San Antonio 69-45 in the second and third. San Antonio had 60 points in the paint, only two off its Game 3 total, but they had 11 fewer second-chance points and nine less fast break points. The series has gone back and forth through four games, as the Nuggets won the first game of the series at home.
- Get more details: San Antonio vs Dever NBA Match-up Stats
