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DENVER (AP) — Jamal Murray scored 30 points, going 16 of 16 from the free-throw line, and Nikola Jokic had a triple-double as the Denver Nuggets shook off a sluggish start to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-105 on Saturday in the opener of their first-round playoff series.
Jokic had 25 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists and a bloody nose in a physical game between the Northwest Division foes. There were 42 fouls called, along with an unsportsmanlike technical on Jaden McDaniels for pushing Jokic in the back and a technical on Nuggets coach David Adelman.
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Denver has won 13 straight since losing on March 18.
Murray and the Nuggets trailed by as many as 12 points early, but used a 17-2 run in the third quarter to build a double-digit lead. The Timberwolves, who were held scoreless for more than four minutes at one point in the third, trimmed the deficit to 97-95 with 6:23 left.
Jokic had a five-point stretch to hold off Minnesota. Murray had one of the biggest shots of the game from halfcourt. With the shot clocking winding down, he heaved it at the hoop and it grazed the rim to reset the clock. It eventually led to a dunk from Aaron Gordon that gave Denver a 108-101 lead with 1:50 left. Gordon had 17 points despite early foul trouble.
Game 2 is Monday night.
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Anthony Edwards scored 22 points while playing on a sore right knee. Donte DiVincenzo had four 3-pointers.
CAVALIERS 126, RAPTORS 113
CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 32 points, Max Strus had 24 off the bench and Cleveland defeated Toronto in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
James Harden had 22 points and 10 assists while Evan Mobley had 17 and seven rebounds for fourth-seeded Cleveland, which hosts Game 2 on Monday night.
Mitchell has scored at least 30 points in an NBA-record nine straight series openers.
RJ Barrett scored 24 points and Scottie Barnes had 21 for the Raptors, who were playing in their first playoff game since 2022. Toronto was missing point guard Immanuel Quickley because of a mild right hamstring strain.
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Jamal Shead started in place of Quickley and had 17 points,…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/murray-scores-30-nuggets-beat-033307293.html
Author : The Associated Press
Publish date : 2026-04-19 03:33:00
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