Jamal Murray hits 2nd game winner as Nuggets sink Lakers - ESPN

DENVER — Jamal Murray scored 32 points despite a strained calf and sank the game winner with 3.6 seconds left as the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets bounced LeBron James from the playoffs again with a 108-106 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of the first-round series on Monday night.

James' two free throws tied it at 106 with 26 seconds left, and the Nuggets, just as they did in Game 2, eschewed the timeout. Murray took the ball on a high screen-and-roll to his left, shaking Austin Reaves and crossing through the lane, and swished the 14-footer.

It was Murray's buzzer-beater that won Game 2.

The Nuggets point guard is the first player in the last 25 seasons with multiple go-ahead shots in the final 5 seconds of a single playoff series, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. He's the fourth player to do it multiple times across a single postseason.

«This one was a little better,» Murray said as confetti swirled around him and his celebrating teammates.

Nikola Jokic, who committed an uncharacteristic seven turnovers, narrowly missed his 19th career playoff triple-double with 25 points, 20 rebounds and nine assists and Michael Porter Jr. scored 26.

James had 30 points and 11 assists and Davis had 17 points and 15 rebound but appeared bothered down the stretch after banging his left shoulder into MPJ in the second half.

The Nuggets advanced to face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round starting next weekend. That series starts in Denver, where the Nuggets are a Western Conference-best 36-8, including 3-0 in the playoffs.

Not that it's been easy.

The Nuggets trailed for about three-fourths of the minutes in this series, they scuffled through extended shooting slumps and they're a banged-up