Memphis — Jamal Murray scored 21 points, Nikola Jokic 15 points and 15 rebounds, and the defending champion Denver Nuggets beat the Memphis Grizzlies 126-111 on Sunday to claim the No. 2 Western Conference seed.
The Thunder won the West due to a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Nuggets (57-25), who tied a franchise record. Minnesota slid to third, one game behind Denver, after losing to Phoenix. Michael Malone stated “not being satisfied with last year” was important to tying the franchise record.
To tie the franchise record for wins in a season is outstanding, especially after winning a championship,” Malone said. It's been the mantra all year. Lacking satisfaction.” The game started with Denver, Minnesota, and Oklahoma City tied. The first logjam on the final day of the season occurred when three teams competed for the No. 1 seed. The Thunder beat Dallas to stay on top
Nuggets will play New Orleans Pelicans or Los Angeles Lakers in first-round playoffs. Tuesday night's play-in game features the Pelicans and Lakers. “I’m just happy to be done with the regular season,” Malone said. "We have the 2 seed, so we'll watch New Orleans-LA on Tuesday night."
The Nuggets' Christian Braun scored 19 and Aaron Gordon 15. “We just have an identity now,” said Denver forward Michael Porter Jr., who scored 12, rebounded 5, and assisted 4. It's been a while since our core men played together. We have chemistry.”
Memphis' career-high 44 points came from GG Jackson. The Grizzlies finished 27-55, 13th in the West, with 29 points from Jake LaRavia. Memphis' five-game skid ended the season. Jackson, last year's 45th pick, started the season as a two-way player. After signing a multi-year contract in February, he scored 40 points in his final game.
Jackson called the season "the most adversity I've ever had to deal with mentally." Everything was granted and smooth throughout my basketball career. I needed to polish and sharpen.” After a 9-0 run in the second half, Denver led 66-54 at halftime. Denver scored 51% throughout the half, with Murray scoring 19 points.
With their starters out of the fourth quarter, Denver cruised home after an 11-2 second-half run extended the margin to 21. While Jokic and Murray were questionable before the game, all Denver starters played.
Memphis' season was disrupted by long-term injuries to key players. Grizzlies only dressed eight players against Denver, mostly on two-way and 10-day contracts. Memphis was the Western No. 2 seed last season. “Every season presents something different,” said coach Taylor Jenkins. “Obviously, this presented something no one was expecting.”
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