Canada's Murray drops 37, shines in 4th quarter to power Nuggets past Lakers for 2-0 series lead

After Nikola Jokic's monster game in the opener, his pick-and-roll partner Jamal Murray took the spotlight in the Western Conference finals Thursday night.

Murray, from Kitchener, Ont., scored 23 of his 37 points in the fourth quarter, propelling the Denver Nuggets to a 108-103 come-from-behind win over the Los Angeles Lakers for a 2-0 lead in the series.

Murray missed 12 of his 17 shots through three quarters but found his touch in the fourth, going six for seven, including four three-pointers, and fueling a 15-1 run that gave Denver a 96-84 lead.

"He made shots at the end of the clock," LeBron James lamented. "We guard for 24 seconds and he made two big-time shots, one over [Anthony Davis] and one over me. He had his three-point shot going in the fourth. It's no surprise to me, he's done it before. Sometimes it's a never-miss league."

In all, Denver sank seven threes in the fourth quarter after hitting seven all night.

"It would have been a lot easier if I had made them in the first half," said Murray, who is still playing through an earache he hasn't been able to shake since Round 2.

Jamal Murray goes OFF in the 4th quarter to help Denver secure a 2-0 lead in the WCF!<br><br>37 PTS (23 PTS in the 4Q)<br>10 REB<br>6 3PM<br><br>DEN/LAL Game 2: Sat, 8:30 PM ET | ABC <a href="https://t.co/wZ9k5YaUCa">pic.twitter.com/wZ9k5YaUCa</a>

Jokic added 23 points, 17 rebounds and a dozen assists a day after ESPN sideline reporter Lisa Salters handed the Nuggets the no-respect card by acknowledging that she'd never seen the two-time MVP play before Game 1, when he had 34 points, 21 boards and 14 assists.

As for Jokic, he brushed off the slights on him and his teammates, saying, "It's nothing new for us."

Malone was plenty miffed by