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For one half of basketball, it appeared as though the Denver Nuggets were going to coast to a Game 7 win over the Utah Jazz and advance to play the Los Angeles Clippers. Instead, the Jazz helped create one of the oddest finishes in recent memory before the Nuggets held on to win.
The Nuggets led the Jazz 50-36 at halftime as Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. carried the offensive load. On the order side, Donovan Mitchell had just seven points in the first half and was cold from the field after averaging 38.7 points in the previous six games.
Mitchell responded to begin the third quarter by scoring the first nine points for the Jazz. Mitchell eventually scored 13 points in the period as the Jazz cut the deficit, which grew to as many as 19 points, down to five entering the fourth quarter.
Rudy Gobert led the Jazz by scoring 10 of their 15 total points in the fourth quarter with the final sequence unfolding in dramatic fashion as the Nuggets won, 80-78.
What an ending for Game 7.
Incredible series. pic.twitter.com/4NmE8gyB72
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 2, 2020
Jokic scored 30 points and 14 rebounds as he joined David Thompson (37, 1978) as the only players in team history to score at least 30 points in a Game 7, according to ESPN Stats & Info. Murray added 17 while Porter chipped in 10 points and nine rebounds in the low-scoring affair.
The Nuggets won despite scoring just 30 points in the second half. The 30 points scored by the Nuggets were the fewest in the second half of a Game 7 win during the shot-clock era (since 1954-55). By comparison, the Jazz managed to score 42 points in the half.
Mitchell finished the game with 22 points and nine rebounds after an incredible performance during the series. He averaged 36.3 points, five rebounds and 4.9 assists per game on 52% shooting from 3-point range in the seven-game series.
The matchup between the Nuggets and Jazz proved to perhaps the most exciting series in the playoffs thus far. Murray and Mitchell each recorded multiple 50-point outings and combined to score 475 points, the most ever by opposing players in a series in NBA history.
After walking away with the last-second win on Tuesday, the Nuggets will now face the Clippers starting on Thursday in the Western Conference semifinals.
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