Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell face off for the sixth time in their record-breaking defense battle Sunday night when third-seed Denver Nuggets tries to stay alive in their Western Conference playoff series against sixth-seeded Utah Jazz in the NBA Bubble near Orlando.
Murray overtook Mitchell for the first time in the 42-30 series when the Nuggets recorded a 117-107 win in Game 5 that denied the Jazz, at least temporarily, a place in the Western semi-finals against Los Angeles Clippers-Dallas winner. Mavericks Series. Utah lead the series best of seven 3-2.
Race 7, if necessary, would be Tuesday.
Murray, who lost a historic duel by scoring 51-50 against Mitchell in Game 4, scored 154 points in five games. He needs 31 Sunday night to overtake Carmelo Anthony (2010) for the most points in Nuggets’ history in a first-round playoff series.
The 23-year-old has already broken Chauncey Billups’ previous franchise record by 3 points in a first-round streak (19) with 22.
Murray could find himself with a familiar teammate in Game 6, with Gary Harris returning to training following a hip injury sustained ahead of the restart last month.
Harris, who has averaged 10.4ppg in 56 games (55 games) this season, hasn’t played since suffering the injury. He was upgraded from doubtful to questionable over the course of his first five games, and has now benefited from the three additional days off in the series that followed the postponement of Game 6 on Thursday as part of the NBA’s protest over Jacob Blake’s shooting in Wisconsin.
Mitchell had 188 points in the first five games. He led the NBA in the playoff scoring when play resumed on Saturday.
He needs 28 points in Game 6 to break Tracy McGrady’s record for most points in a Western Conference first-round playoff series, set in 2005 when he totaled 215.
The complete record in a first round series was set by LeBron James in 2018 with 241.
Former collegiate rivals in Louisville and Kentucky, respectively, Mitchell and Murray each scored 22 3 points in the series. With five more wins on Sunday, Mitchell could break Stephen Curry’s record of 26 in a six-game playoff streak.
Both teams have the unenviable task of focusing on basketball again after taking on leading roles in referrals earlier in the week.
Newcomer Michael Porter Jr., Denver’s third-highest scorer in the series with 14.4 points per game, admitted during the break: “Realizing that the things that are happening in the world are much bigger than basketball for us, I feel people admire us. When we talk about these things, it is good for the world to realize how much it means to us too. “
Meanwhile, Mitchell announced in the aftermath of Blake’s shooting that he would donate $ 45,000 to a college fund for his children.
“Education reform is something I truly believe in,” assured Mitchell, who wears size 45. “Being able to receive education on equal terms is something I believe is the key to generational success and being able to able to overcome racism, racism, repression of voters and everything in between. “
– Field-level average
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