Tuesday’s NBA Playoff Action included two Western Conference Game fives. The Denver Nuggets fought to stay alive in their series with the Golden State Warriors while the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers battled to take command in theirs.
Denver Nuggets stay alive with 107-100 win over Golden State Warriors
Facing elimination, the Denver Nuggets held off a late rally by the Golden State Warriors to stay alive in their series, winning 107-100. Playing at home, Denver got off to a fast start. The Nuggets were red hot in the first quarter, racing out to a 36-22 lead. Heading into the half, Denver was up by 20 over sixth-seeded Golden State.
While Stephen Curry was uncharacteristically cold from three-point range (1-7), forward Harrison Barnes picked up the slack, leading the Warriors with 23 points and nine rebounds. But it wasn’t quite enough to stop the Nuggets from forcing a Game six.
Behind a 13-2 run in the fourth quarter, Golden State cut Denver’s 17-point lead to only six. The Warriors fought to within five, but couldn’t get any closer than that. The Nuggets made four of their final shots and some key free throws to win the game.
Andrew Iguodala (25 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists) and Ty Lawson (19 points and ten assists) led the way. Forward Kenneth Faried also added a double double with 13 points and ten rebounds.
Neither team shot particularly well, but the Nuggets took advantage of 17 Golden State turnovers, including six by point guard Jarrett Jack.
Golden State will take its 3-2 lead into Game six Thursday night in Oakland.
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Grizzlies take 3-2 lead with 103-93 win over Clippers
With the series tied at two games apiece, Memphis seized hold of Game five against Los Angeles, and may find themselves in the next round. A 103-93 win gives the Grizzlies a 3-2 lead and the series now moves to Memphis on Friday for Game six.
In defeat, Chris Paul tied his career playoff high with 35 points. But the big story of the game was an ankle injury to the Clippers’ star forward, Blake Griffin. Griffin tweaked his ankle in a practice on Monday, but the team didn’t disclose the injury. He played 20 minutes in the contest, but wasn’t too effective, scoring only four points on 2-7 shooting while collecting five rebounds.
The Clippers find themselves in a tough spot here. Not only are they forced to go on the road to play Game six, but they will be doing it with one of their best players either out of the game or at best, likely playing with limited mobility as he did on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Grizzlies are clicking. Three starters, Mike Conley, Marc Gasol, and Zach Randolph all scored at least 20 points, and the team had only seven turnovers in the entire game. With two games to close out the series, they appear to be the favorites to advance.
