Jamal Murray scored his game-high 43 points in the second half, with host Denver Nuggets 131-115 in Game 5 of the first-round series in the Western Conference, pushing the Los Angeles Clippers into the knockout round.
Denver has won the first round in the last two games to lead 3-2. Game 6 was on Thursday night in Los Angeles.
Murray scored 11 points in the third quarter of the third quarter transformation Tuesday night, adding 13 points in the fourth quarter, with 2 minutes and 13 seconds left for the final three-pointer to raise the Nuggets to 20.
Nikola Jokic scored 13 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, which was his third triple-double for the Nuggets who had never fallen behind. They led 22 in the second straight game in the fourth quarter, but unlike Saturday, they did not give up the entire lead.
The Clippers had 4:01 left in 116-107 with a 17-4 score, but Aaron Gordon scored a layup, Murray made a free throw after a transition foul, and then a fallen jumper, Gordon ran out of a 3-pointer to seal it.
Russell Westbrook missed Game 4 with a foot injury, scoring 21 points from the Denver bench. Gordon scored 23 points, Michael Porter JR scored 14 points, Christian Braun scored 11 points and 12 rebounds.
The Nuggets shot 17-33 (51.5%) from three-pointers.
Los Angeles' James Harden was hit 11 points on 3 of 9 shots, but Kawhi Leonard scored 20 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, while Ivica Zubac scored 27 points.
Porter opened the fourth quarter with three-pointers and three-pointers, Murray ran out one from the depths and fed Westbrook to 110-88 at 12 feet, then Los Angeles was under nine-nine.
Murray and Porter made 3-pointers 10-2 at the start of the third quarter, during which the Nuggets led 84-67.
The Clippers scored seven points in 43 seconds, within 88-80, but Braun's three-pointer put it fourth.
Denver won the fourth 101-99 title in Los Angeles Sunday when Gordon spiked on a buzzer.
Boston Celtics, Indiana Pacers Queue Series
The Indiana Pacers and the Boston Celtics booked their latest team in Tuesday's second round of NBA playoffs as the Detroit Pistons thwarted the New York Knicks to keep their playoff hopes.
In Indianapolis, the Pacers fought back from a 20-point deficit before rallied again in overtime to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 119-118 and won 4-1 in their NBA Eastern Conference duel.
The defending NBA champion Celtics overwhelmed the Orlando Magic's time with a 120-89 victory at TD Garden in Boston.
The Knicks, who led 3-1, missed the chance to join Boston and Indiana in the second round after a 106-103 loss to Detroit in Madison Square Garden.
The Pacers reached the Eastern Conference semifinals after an overtime game in overtime, Cleveland Best Seed.
The Pacers trailed 40 seconds 118-111, but reached a driving layup by Tyrese Haliburton with 8-0 to win, with 1.3 seconds left.
Milwaukee's Gary Trent Jr was a big mistake, who fumbling out a vast pass in exchange for possession and establishing Halliburton's victory layup, which is Pivotal.
"Both teams are actually leaving everything for every ounce, including timeouts - no one left anything left," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.
"But you know, wealth prefers to be bold. Over the past three quarters, our guys have been bold and we are so grateful and grateful for keeping going."
