Jokic, Murray put Nuggets on brink of first playoff series win since 2009

As the Spurs whittled down the Nuggets’ lead, which was at one point 27 midway through the third quarter, to 18 later in the period, Pepsi Center got tense for the first time since the opening minutes of Game 5.

Naturally, the ball found Nikola Jokic’s hands on back-to-back possessions. Two high-arching 3s later, Denver’s lead was back to a comfortable 22 points. Just as Jokic has all season, he delivered once again when the Nuggets needed him to.

“He’s never fazed,” Michael Malone said of his All-Star center prior to Game 5.

Those two triples ended Jokic’s night. Denver didn’t need its franchise cornerstone for the fourth quarter where it maintained a comfortable 20-plus point lead over San Antonio as the Nuggets cruised to a 108-90 win to take a 3-2 lead in the series.

Jamal Murray shouldered the scoring load for the Nuggets in Game 4, finishing with a team-high 23 points an efficient 9-of-16 shooting in the win. Gary Harris played some of his best basketball on the defensive end of the floor this season and also chipped in 15 points, nine of which came from beyond the arc.

Will Barton found a nice offensive rhythm off the bench for Denver, tallying 15 points on 6-10 shooting to go with five rebounds and three assists.

Game 6 is Thursday in San Antonio where the Nuggets will look to clinch their first playoff series win since 2009.