MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Jamal Murray scored 17 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter Wednesday night, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Memphis Grizzlies 123-118 at FedExForum.
Cameron Johnson made the plays that settled it. After a Ty Jerome jumper cut Denver’s lead to 115-113 with 2:42 left, Johnson scored on a drive following an offensive rebound, then hit a 3-pointer from Nikola Jokić with 1:01 left for a 120-113 lead.
“I mean, it’s what he’s been doing, you know, the whole start of the season,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said of Murray. “We went to him in a lot of different ways in different spots. You know, he’s an all-star. He’s an all-time player.”
Foul Trouble Opens The Door
Denver led by as many as 18 in the second quarter and never trailed, but its 65-52 halftime lead started to slip once Murray picked up his fourth foul 74 seconds into the third. Memphis got to the line 11 times in the period and made 10, and by the end of the quarter the Grizzlies were down only 94-90.
“It’s not been schematics,” Adelman said of Denver’s defensive problems this season, pointing instead to defenders getting beaten one-on-one. “There were so many times in the third quarter it was just straight-line drives.”
Murray came back late in the third and hit a 29-footer in the final minute of the quarter. He kept going in the fourth, and by the time his step-back 3 made it 113-104, he had 20 points in less than seven minutes. He blocked two shots in that stretch, too.
“I’m just playing basketball,” Murray said. Asked about the defense, he said “our defense and our intensity and our everybody being on the same page, to me, is what won us the game.”
Johnson’s 50-50 Ball
Johnson’s layup came after he chased down the rebound of a Jokić miss and Aaron Gordon got the ball back to him.
“You know, the coaches have voiced that we need to get more 50-50 balls,” Johnson said. “I saw a lot of space towards the hoop, and I was able to get there.”
Johnson finished with 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting, and Adelman wants him shooting that often. “Nine for 15 tonight. I’ll take six for 15. He’s got to let it go,” Adelman said.
Zach Edey’s hook made it 120-118 with 20.6 seconds left, but Jokić split two free throws, rookie Cameron Boozer missed a 28-footer that would have tied it, and Gordon closed it at the line.
34 Assists, Six Turnovers
Two of Denver’s six turnovers were shot-clock violations. “Only six turnovers for two points is outrageous against this team, and you account that with 34 assists,” Adelman said. Asked how the Nuggets managed it, he added: “I thought they were just hooping out there. Open man wins. We say that all the time.”
“I think playing aggressive, it’s maybe the key, just because if you’re playing aggressive and if you make a mistake, it’s going to be aggressive mistake,” Jokić said.
Jokić also gave Murray the credit for how the ball moved. “You know, he’s really good for us, and he’s creating looks for everybody else, and we just need to step up and follow him,” he said.
“It’s pretty cool. It’s pretty cool,” Johnson said of watching Murray. “You know, he’s one of the best three-level scorers in the game in terms of the consistency in which he can do it and the difficult shot making, and he put it on full display there in the second half.”
Jokić finished with 27 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists, and Denver improved to 6-4 with its fifth win in seven games.
Memphis, which opened the season 6-0, has lost four of five and is 7-4. Jerome scored 22, including 11 in the fourth quarter, Jaylen Wells also scored 22, and Cedric Coward and Boozer each had a double-double. The Grizzlies’ bench outscored Denver’s 44-22, with 15 from Cam Spencer.
The Nuggets visit the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday at 6 p.m. CT. Memphis plays at New Orleans on Friday before hosting the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday.
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