JAMAL MURRAY, NUGGETS BOUNCE BACK IN GAME 3 BLOWOUT OF.WOLVES

 MINNEAPOLIS -- Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone challenged his team to act and play like the defending champions.

On Friday, the Nuggets, and Jamal Murray in particular, responded with their best performance of the playoffs, routing the Minnesota Timberwolves 117-90 in Game 3 at the Target Center. The Nuggets trail the Timberwolves 2-1 in their best-of-seven series.

Murray, fueled by a hostile Minnesota crowd that booed him from the moment he stepped onto the floor during pregame warmups, scored 18 of his 24 points in the first half to set the tone for the Nuggets.

"That definitely fueled me during the game," Murray said of the boos. "And just keeps me in that mode. So it's fun. I embrace that challenge. I embrace that moment. I probably deserved the boos, so I'm not shying away from it."

Minnesota fans wouldn't let Murray off the hook for throwing a heat pack and towel onto the floor during a dreadful 106-80 Nuggets loss in Game 2. Murray, who shot 3-for-18 in that loss, was fined $100,000 by the league for throwing objects onto the court.

Murray's troublesome left calf strain was better Friday night, and he thrived in his role as the villain.

"He does kind of relish those moments where he's a bad guy," Malone said. "To me, that beginning of the game, you're in hostile territory, and that's kind of where you separate the man from the boys."

The Nuggets built a 45-25 lead midway through the second quarter. With Malone emphasizing a hit-first mentality on offense, the Nuggets cleared more space for their shooters than they had in the previous two games against the Timberwolves' suffocating defense.

Murray showed how much better he was feeling when he used two crossovers to shake free of Karl-Anthony Towns before drilling a jumper on the big man in the first quarter.

"We had a live practice, so I got to test it out," Murray said of Denver's practice on Thursday. "But this was probably the best I felt going into the game. And then it tightened up at the end. But it's good, man."

Minnesota fans likely wished Murray had been suspended for throwing objects onto the floor in Game 2, even if Timberwolves coach Chris Finch wasn't expecting that to happen.

"I wasn't disappointed in the league's decision," Finch said. "Not because necessarily I agreed. It was simply I never, ever, ever expected them to suspend him. I thought they would throw a heavy fine. There hasn't really been much precedent for suspending people certainly in the playoffs unless it's a repeat offense. Whether it is or it isn't a suspendable thing doesn't matter now."

Finch was expecting the Nuggets to deliver a championship performance, and Denver did just that. All five Denver starters scored in double figures. After Murray started hot, MVP Nikola Jokic took over in the third quarter, scoring 13 of his 24 points in the frame. He finished with 24 points, 14 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks, along with several crucial screens to set teammates free for shots.

Michael Porter Jr. had 21 points, and Aaron Gordon buried three triples and had 13 points.

"That was Denver Nugget basketball," Malone said. "And that's the first time I've seen that in this series for four quarters."

Anthony Edwards led the Timberwolves with 19 points but also had a game-high five turnovers, and Minnesota was outscored by 32 points in the 37 minutes he was on the court.

"I'll take the blame for this loss," Edwards said. "I came out with no energy at all. I can't afford to do that for my team. I let my team down, coaches down, fans down. I'll be ready Sunday."

Edwards wasn't the only member of the Timberwolves to take accountability after the team lost for the first time this postseason following a 6-0 start.

Minnesota point guard Mike Conley (10 points, 6 assists) said the game was officiated differently than the series was in Denver, as evidenced by Jaden McDaniels picking up three fouls in eight minutes of playing time in the first half. But Conley put the onus on his team to adapt to the whistle.

"Tonight, guys weren't allowed to be as physical as we were in the last game, so we had to adjust our play for that, and that's what good teams do," Conley said. "We don't blame the refs and think that's why we lost this game. We know better than that."

Towns, who had 14 points on 4-for-7 shooting, tied for the second-fewest shot attempts he has taken in 23 career playoff games, said Denver gave Minnesota a wake-up call.

"It's a great humbling experience, I think, for our team," Towns said. "To understand that this is not easy. Just because we've been fortunate to find ourselves on the winning end for six straight playoff games don't mean that the seventh, the eighth, the ninth, the 10th is going to be the same result. I think this is a great humbling experience for us and the defending champions definitely gave us that experience and it's going to make us hungrier. I think it's going to make us a better team."

ESPN's Dave McMenamin contributed to this report.

- Ohm Youngmisuk, ESPN Staff Writer

JAMAL MURRAY HITS 2ND GAME WINNER AS NUGGETS SINK LAKERS

NBA com

 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 Western Conference 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 past 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 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 Porter in the second half.

The Nuggets advanced to face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round starting next weekend. That series begins in Denver, where the Nuggets are a 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, scuffled through extended shooting slumps and are a banged-up bunch that can definitely use the rest. Denver, which swept the Lakers in the Western Conference finals last summer on its way to winning the franchise's first NBA championship, beat the Lakers for the 12th time in their past 13 matchups.

The only other time James was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs came in 2021 when the Phoenix Suns beat L.A. in six games. This was the shortest of James' 17 trips to the playoffs, where he's now 183-104 overall with a 41-13 series record and four titles.

After warming up with an ice pack on his injured calf, Murray got clearance to play. He wasn't his usual explosive self on drives to the basket -- at first -- but he managed 16 points in the first half, including 12 in the first quarter, which ended with Denver ahead (28-24) for the first time all series.

The Lakers led 53-50 at halftime and pushed that advantage to nine points, but the Nuggets closed on a 21-10 run to take an 81-79 lead into the fourth quarter that was tight until the buzzer.

After Murray's clutch shot, L.A. forward Taurean Prince heaved up a half-courter that fell short, sending the Lakers to an early exit despite taking the defending champs to the brink in all five games.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

- ESPN News Services

NBA BANS JONTAY PORTER AFTER GAMBLING PROBE SHOWS HE SHARED INFORMATION, BET ON GAMES

The Canadian Press via AP

 Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter was banned for life from the NBA on Wednesday after a league probe found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors and wagered on games, even betting on the Raptors to lose.

Porter is the second person to be banned by Commissioner Adam Silver for violating league rules. The other was now-former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling in 2014, shortly after Silver took office.

In making the announcement, Silver called Porter's actions “blatant.”

“There is nothing more important than protecting the integrity of NBA competition for our fans, our teams and everyone associated with our sport, which is why Jontay Porter’s blatant violations of our gaming rules are being met with the most severe punishment,” Silver said.

The investigation started once the league learned from “licensed sports betting operators and an organization that monitors legal betting markets” about unusual gambling patterns surrounding Porter's performance in a game on March 20 against Sacramento. The league determined that Porter gave a bettor information about his own health status prior that game and said that another individual — known to be an NBA bettor — placed an $80,000 bet that Porter would not hit the numbers set for him in parlays through an online sports book. That bet would have won $1.1 million.

Porter took himself out of that game after less than three minutes, claiming illness, none of his stats meeting the totals set in the parlay. The $80,000 bet was frozen and not paid out, the league said, and the NBA started an investigation not long afterward.

“You don't want this for the kid, you don't want this for our team and we don't want this for our league, that's for sure," Raptors President Masai Ujiri said Wednesday in Toronto, speaking shortly before the NBA announced Porter's ban. “My first reaction is obviously surprise, because none of us, I don't think anybody, saw this coming.”

Later, after the NBA revealed the ban, the Raptors said they are "fully supportive of the league’s decision to ban Jontay Porter from the NBA and are grateful for the swift resolution to this investigation. We will continue to cooperate with all ongoing inquiries.”

The league has partnerships and other relationships with more than two dozen gaming companies, many of whom advertise during NBA games in a variety of ways. Silver himself has been a longtime proponent of legal sports wagering, but the league has very strict rules for players and employees regarding betting.

AP

And what Porter was found to have done was in violation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which states: “Any Player who, directly or indirectly, wagers money or anything of value on any game or event in the Association or in the NBA G League shall, on being charged with such wagering, be given an opportunity to answer such charges after due notice, and the decision of the Commissioner shall be final, binding, and conclusive and unappealable.”

Silver cautioned last week that this move was possible, saying what Porter was accused of represented “cardinal sin” in the NBA. Porter has not commented since the investigation began, and never played for the Raptors again — he was listed as out for all of Toronto's games for the remainder of the season citing personal reasons.

The league also determined that Porter — the brother of Denver Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. — placed at least 13 bets on NBA games using someone else's betting account. The bets ranged from $15 to $22,000; the total wagered was $54,094 and generated a payout of $76,059, or net winnings of $21,965.

Those wagers did not involve any game in which Porter played, the NBA said. But three of the wagers were multi-game parlays, including a bet where Porter — who was not playing in the games involved — wagered on the Raptors to lose. All three of those bets lost.

“While legal sports betting creates transparency that helps identify suspicious or abnormal activity, this matter also raises important issues about the sufficiency of the regulatory framework currently in place, including the types of bets offered on our games and players,” Silver said. "Working closely with all relevant stakeholders across the industry, we will continue to work diligently to safeguard our league and game.”

Porter was on what is called a two-way contract, meaning he could play for both the Raptors and their affiliate in the G League. His salary for this year was around $410,000; had the Raptors signed him to a standard NBA contract next season, as seemed possible, his salary would have exceeded $2 million.

The 24-year-old Porter averaged 4.4 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 26 games, including five starts. He also played in 11 games for Memphis in the 2020-21 season.

ESPN first reported the investigation, which it said surrounded Porter’s performance in games on Jan. 26 and March 20. In both games, Porter played briefly before leaving citing injury or illness. Porter played 4 minutes, 24 seconds against the Los Angeles Clippers in the first of those games, then 2:43 against Sacramento in the second game.

In both of those games, Porter did not come close to hitting the prop-wager lines for points, rebounds and 3-pointers that bettors could play at some sportsbooks. For example, one set of prop wagers for Porter for the Clippers game was set at 5.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists; he finished with no points, three rebounds and one assist. For the Kings game, they were around 7.5 points and 5.5 rebounds; Porter finished that game with no points and two rebounds.

The league said its probe “remains open and may result in further findings,” and that those findings are being shared with federal prosecutors.

- Tim Reynolds 

LEBRON JAMES REACHES 40,000 POINTS TO EXTEND HIS NBA CAREER SCORING RECORD

AP Photo 

 LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James reached 40,000 points Saturday night, still going strong in his 21st NBA season as he tries to put the career scoring record out of reach.

James drove past Michael Porter Jr. and hit a layup with 10:39 left in the second quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 124 loss to the Denver Nuggets for the historic basket.

“Being the first player to do something, it’s pretty cool in this league, just knowing the history, the greats that’s come through the league, and then you see some of the greats on the floor tonight, it was great to compete,” James said. “But for me, the main thing, as always, is to win, and I hated that it had to happen in a defeat.”

James did it in 1,475 regular-season games, reaching double-digit points in each of the last 1,205 of them. He has largely avoided major injuries in that time, while also playing another 3 1/2 seasons worth of games in the playoffs en route to four titles in 10 NBA Finals appearances, all with unfathomable pressure placed on him to be the next transcendent player before ever stepping on the court as a professional.