BBNBA: Jamal Murray's masterclass performance pushes Nuggets to 3-2 series lead

It’s become somewhat of a running bit at this point: If Jamal Murray is playing like an All-Star, the Denver Nuggets are title contenders. The problem? It had been a while since Murray tapped into his postseason heroics. The former Kentucky guard quietly had another great regular season, but his impact in the playoffs wasn’t being felt like it was during the Nuggets’ 2023 title run.

But Playoff Jamal Murray showed up on Tuesday night in Denver. And his performance was special enough to believe this group of Nuggets might actually be a team that can make a charge toward the NBA Finals.

Murray went for 43 points (17-26 FG, 4-8 3PT) as the Nuggets took Game 5 from the Los Angeles Clippers, 131-115, giving Denver a 3-2 series lead. It was Murray’s most points in a postseason game since he dropped 40 on the Timberwolves in April 2023. The sharpshooting guard was hot from the opening tip, scoring 10 points in the opening quarter. He was up to 19 points at halftime. Denver jumped out to an early lead on the back of Murray’s scoring and never looked back. The Nuggets led by as many as 22 points in the fourth quarter.

“Tonight, he played great,” Kawhi Leonard said of Murray postgame. “He came out, made shots, got hot, found his teammates and we pretty much couldn’t stop him. He played amazing. Russ (Westbrook) came in and played great, as well.”

On top of his 43 points (his sixth career postseason game with at least 40 points, most in Nuggets history), Murray chipped in seven assists, five rebounds, three steals, and one block in 40 minutes. He only turned the ball over once. He did all of this with only one free-throw attempt. After averaging just 20 points per game through this series’s first four contests, it truly felt like a breakout game was going to happen eventually — we just didn’t know when.

“I said before the game it’s coming with him,” Nuggets interim coach David Adelman said. “You know it is, in these big moments, these situations. He was born for this.”

Game 6 shifts to Los Angeles, where the Clippers will fight to keep their season alive. Tipoff on Thursday is set for 10:00 p.m. ET on TNT. The winner of this series gets MVP frontrunner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the next round.

Foul trouble hinders KAT in Game 5 loss

Karl-Anthony Towns and the New York Knicks could not take care of business Tuesday night, failing to close out the Detroit Pistons in a 106-103 Game 5 loss. A poor shooting night from Jalen Brunson, coupled with a slow start from the Knicks, spelled doom early on. The score was tied at 95 before Detroit rattled off six straight points to bury New York for good.

After playing great basketball in back-to-back games, Towns was off in Game 5. He recorded 17 points, 11 rebounds, and two blocks in 34 minutes, but shot just 5-14 from the field and struggled at times with foul trouble. KAT picked up his fifth foul with over seven minutes left in the game and had to take a more cautious approach down the stretch.

Despite the defeat, New York still holds a 3-2 series lead with Game 6 going back to the Big Apple. KAT and the Knicks can finish the series strong on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT.

Giannis gets into it with Halibutron’s dad

In non-BBNBA news, in the aftermath of the Milwaukee Bucks blowing a late, series-losing lead to the Indiana Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton’s dad exchanged some on-court words with Giannis Antetokounmpo. The two went up to each other on multiple occasions, with Giannis clearly not enjoying the words being sent his way (and said as such in his postgame interview). It was a very, very strange situation.

Here’s another angle of Haliburton’s dad and Giannis. This is insane behavior by an old ass man.

Watch the guy in the black jersey initially sitting down in a chair with the towel on the baseline pic.twitter.com/4ldMy1Oxke

— sqr (@squaresense) April 30, 2025

Giannis Antetokounmpo just went face-to-face with Tyrese Haliburton’s father after the Bucks were eliminated in Game 5.

Giannis had to be pulled back by team staffers.pic.twitter.com/FeE6GgEwxS

— Evan Sidery (@esidery) April 30, 2025

Haliburton condemned his father’s action in the postgame press conference, and the man himself even issued an apology online shortly after, but a ban for the rest of the playoffs needs to be invoked here. Even if a fan is the father of a player, they simply can’t be stepping on the floor and approaching players, especially after high-intensity moments.

4/29/25 Statistics

Player	Score	PTS	FG (3PT)	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	+/-	MIN
Jamal Murray (DEN)	131-115 W vs. LAC	43	17-26 (8-14)	5	7	3	1	1	17	40
Karl-Anthony Towns (NYK)	106-103 L vs. DET	17	5-14 (2-4)	11	1	0	2	0	-12	34
Isaiah Jackson (IND)	119-118 (OT) W vs. MIL	DNP-Achilles	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Chris Livingston (MIL)	119-118 (OT) L @ IND	DNP-CD	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Tonight in the NBA Playoffs

Westeren Conference First Round | Game 5 | GSW leads 3-1
7:30 (TNT) | (7) Warriors (Knox) @ (2) Rockets (Sheppard)

Westeren Conference First Round | Game 5 | MIN leads 3-1
10:00 (TNT) | (6) Timberwolves (Dillingham, Randle) @ (3) Lakers (Vanderbilt)