The playoff games of the Western Conference on Sunday were not disappointing. After Luka Doncic’s huge game-winner to elevate the Dallas Mavericks in overtime past the Los Angeles Clippers, the Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets followed up with their own thriller. Thanks to another great match by Donovan Mitchell, the Jazz escaped with a win of 129-127 to take a 3-1 series.
After losing Game 1 in overtime, the Jazz bounced back with three straight wins to take control of this series. Mitchell has stepped up in a significant way, and on Sunday night finished with 51 points and seven assists for his second game of 50 points of the series. They are one win away from advancing to the second round for the third time in four seasons.
Jamal Murray had it again for the Nuggets, finishing with 50 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for a new playoff career high, but this time he could not drag the Nuggets to victory. Denver must now win three games in a row to prevent a second straight early exit from the postseason.
Here are some key takeaways from the game:
Mitchell vs. Murray II
The NBA Playoffs in 2020 began with an exciting duel between Donovan Mitchell and Jamal Murray in Game 1 of this series, as the two went back and forth before the Nuggets won the victory. On Sunday night, they ran it back, somehow at an even higher level, and this time Mitchell was victorious.
Anyone else could just as well leave the court in the fourth quarter of Game 4, as Mitchell and Murray traded basket for basket. Mitchell scored 18 of his 51 in the fourth, including a step-back 3-pointer right in the face of Paul Millsap to close out the show. Murray’s 21 in the fourth was not enough in the meantime.
Together, the duo made all sorts of history at night. They became the first opponents to ever score 50 points for every one played in the same playoff game, as Murray’s 50 were a career high and a franchise playoff record and Mitchell became just the third player to ever score 50-plus twice. in the same series. The others were Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson.
If you missed this game, the full highlights of these two are well worth a look.
Nuggets at the knees
The Nuggets have been one of the best teams in the Western Conference in each of the past two seasons, finishing second last season, and third this time. Unfortunately, as they are on the verge of another start to the playoffs, it may be time to start asking if they are just a season-old team.
These are strange circumstances playing into the bubble, and they are missing two key members of their rotation in Gary Harris and Will Barton. But they are not the only team dealing with these kinds of problems; the Jazz are without one of their best scorers in Bojan Bogdanovic, and Mike Conley also missed games 1 and 2.
In the meantime, the guys on the inside of the NBA made a good point about Denver, regarding coach Michael Malone asking for more effort from his players in Game 4: if your coach has to ask you to play hard in a crucial playoff game, then I’m already in trouble.
Now the Nuggets have to deal with winning three straight games against a Jazz team that they could not succeed at all. Since NBA series went to best-of-seven, only 11 teams have ever returned from a 3-1 deficit, the last being the Cavaliers in the 2016 Finals.
Conley shines again
Mike Conley missed Games 1 and 2 of this series to go home after the birth of his children, and although it was one hundred percent the right decision, it was also a big hit for the Jazz. The veteran point guard had played great basketball in the bubble, and his absence, along with the injury of Bojan Bogdanovic, left Utah without two of their best players after a clever series with the Nuggets.
They managed to go 1-1 without him, and now that he’s back at Disney World, Conley shows just how important he is to this team. From a 27-point, four-assist attempt in their Game 3 win, he nearly matched that in Game 4, finishing with 26 points and four assists, including nine in the fourth quarter.
Although he did not have a great start to his great time in Utah, these last few games have shown exactly why the Jazz liked him so much. He has been through countless playoff field goals throughout his career, and his ability to play the ball off and hit 3s helps open the floor for Mitchell. If he continues to play like that, the Jazz will be hard to beat.
