Nuggets eliminate Wolves 112-109 behind Murray, Jokic

DENVER (AP) —Nikola Jokic had a triple-double and Jamal Murray scored 35 pointsas the Denver Nuggets eliminated the Minnesota Timberwolves 112-109in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series on Tuesday night.

AnthonyEdwards, who led Minnesota with 29 points, hit the back iron on a27-foot 3-point attempt at the buzzer that would have sent the gameinto overtime.

Jokicovercame a slow offensive start to finish with 28 points, 17rebounds and a dozen assists. He made just 8 of 29 shots, butscored eight points down the stretch to help the Nuggets fend offthe pesky Timberwolves.

MichaelMalone passed Doug Moe with his 25th playoff win as Nuggets headcoach.

Thetop-seeded Nuggets will face the winner of the Los AngelesClippers-Phoenix Suns series in the second round. Those teamstipped off later Tuesday night with the Suns needing one morevictory to end the Clippers’ season.

Denveradvanced thanks to making 32 of 36 free throws.

MichaelPorter Jr. was held without a basket until his dunk with 10:08 leftin the game. Jokic missed eight of his first 10 shots 48 hoursafter tying his career playoff high with 43 points in a Game 4overtime loss at Minnesota.

Karl-AnthonyTowns added 26 points for the Wolves, Rudy Gobert had 16 points and15 rebounds before fouling out and Nickeil Alexander-Walker chippedin 14 points.

The Nuggetsgot 14 points from Aaron Gordon and Bruce Brown, who was inEdwards’ face on the game-tying attempt at the buzzer. Porterscored all eight of his points in the fourth quarter, including apair of clutch 3-pointers after missing his first five shots frombehind the arc.

The Nuggetswent into halftime with the lead for the fifth time in the series,but they were up just 48-47 after Jokic and Porter combined to go 2for 16 from the floor.

Murray, whose16 first-half points kept the Nuggets in it after they fell behindby 13 early on, got a long rebound and pulled up for a 26-foot3-pointer when no defender picked him up in transition. That putDenver ahead 48-45 with their first lead since the openingminutes.

The Wolves,who avoided a sweep with an overtime win in Minneapolis on Sunday,jumped out to a 25-12 lead before the Nuggets began chippingaway.

TIP-INS

Timberwolves:Kyle Anderson, who sustained a left eye injury and facial bruise inGame 4, didn’t make the trip back to Denver so he could see somespecialists, coach Chris Finch said.

Nuggets:Denver won a playoff series under Malone for the fifth time in thelast five seasons. They were beaten in five games last year by theeventual champion Golden State Warriors when Jokic was withoutMurray and Porter, who were both recovering from surgeries.