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| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Spurs | 25 | 34 | 13 | 29 | 101 |
 Nuggets | 20 | 31 | 17 | 28 | 96 |
SASTeam statsDEN| Team | FG | 3PT | FT | REB | AST | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAS | 40-8348.2% | 7-1546.7% | 14-2070.0% | 47 | 20 | 11 |
| DEN | 37-8842.0% | 6-2821.4% | 16-2466.7% | 46 | 25 | 10 |
Point at or clickTap a player to see his shots, then his whole game from there. ClickTap a number under REB, AST, STL, BLK, TO or PF to see those plays.
San Antonio Spurs101| 39 | 18 | 6-17 | 0-0 | 6-8 | 0 | −3 | −2.3 | |||||||
| 34 | 15 | 6-19 | 0-1 | 0 | 3-4 | 0 | +2 | −3.4 | ||||||
| 30 | 15 | 6-9 | 3-4 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −7 | +1.6 | |||
| 28 | 16 | 7-10 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 0 | 0 | +2 | +0.4 | ||||||
| 24 | 6 | 3-5 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 | −1 | −0.7 | ||||||
| Bench | ||||||||||||||
| 27 | 14 | 6-9 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0 | +10 | +0.6 | |||||||
| 21 | 4 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | +7 | +0.1 | ||||
| 20 | 5 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 0 | 2-3 | 0 | 0 | +7 | −1.0 | |||||
| 17 | 8 | 3-9 | 1-4 | 0 | 0 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +8 | −1.3 | |||
| 0 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
| Team | 101 | 40-8348.2% | 7-1546.7% | 47 | 20 | 11 | 17 | 14-2070.0% | 10 | 4 | 4 | |||
Bench 31 points on 12 for 23 shooting
Did not play: Quincy Pondexter, Donatas Motiejunas and Dante Cunningham (coach’s decision).
Denver Nuggets96| 37 | 20 | 7-12 | 1-3 | 0 | 5-5 | 0 | 0 | −2 | +1.7 | |||||
| 36 | 10 | 4-9 | 0-3 | 2-2 | 0 | 0 | +6.5 | |||||||
| 34 | 17 | 8-23 | 0-6 | 0 | 1-1 | 0 | +5 | −5.2 | ||||||
| 34 | 12 | 4-9 | 1-5 | 3-3 | 0 | 0 | −1 | −6.2 | ||||||
| 32 | 15 | 6-15 | 1-5 | 0 | 2-4 | 0 | 0 | −0.2 | ||||||
| Bench | ||||||||||||||
| 23 | 2 | 1-6 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | −11 | −4.3 | ||||
| 17 | 4 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | −7 | 0.0 | |||||
| 15 | 10 | 3-5 | 1-2 | 0 | 3-5 | 0 | 0 | −4 | −0.4 | |||||
| 11 | 6 | 2-4 | 2-3 | 0 | 0 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | −5 | +0.5 | ||||
| Team | 96 | 37-8842.0% | 6-2821.4% | 46 | 25 | 10 | 18 | 16-2466.7% | 13 | 8 | 3 | |||
Bench 22 points on 8 for 20 shooting
Did not play: Jarred Vanderbilt, Isaiah Thomas, Trey Lyles and Juancho Hernangomez (coach’s decision).
Spurs101Nuggets96ClickTap a team’s number to see the plays behind it.
PS, Performance Score: points above what an average player adds in the same minutes. The game’s highs are in blue, hot shooting in gold, cold in gray. ClickTap a column’s heading to sort by it.
The San Antonio Spurs beat the Denver Nuggets 101-96 for a 1-0 lead in the first-round series.
The Nuggets got within 97-96 on Jamal Murray’s 17-foot pull-up jumper with 1:32 to play. They had the ball down 1 after a timeout, but Murray missed a 17-foot pull-up jumper with 9.4 seconds left that would have put them ahead. LaMarcus Aldridge followed with 2 free throws, and the Nuggets got no closer.
During clutch time, the Spurs outscored the Nuggets 11-5. Late in the fourth quarter, Murray had 2 of his 5 steals, and the Nuggets scored 3 points off them.
Bryn Forbes scored 15 points (9 on 3 3-pointers) on 6 for 9 shooting.
For the Nuggets, Gary Harris scored 20 points (11 in the fourth quarter). Nikola Jokić had 10 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists. Murray had 17 points and 5 steals but shot 8 for 23.
The Spurs shot 48.2% from the field and 46.7% from 3 to the Nuggets’ 42.0% and 21.4%.
San Antonio SpursDenver NuggetsPS, Performance Score: points above what an average player adds in the same minutes.
The five plays that moved the chance to win most, in order.
Each play from the side of the team that made it: its chance to win before and after, and the change in percentage points. On the court, each shot is the shooter’s face (gray when he missed), bigger the more it moved the chance. Chances from the site’s game model (the per-play numbers the Clutch and Performances tabs use aren’t built for this game).
87 points from the field on 82 shots: 11.4 more than the league scores from the same zones.
Point at a shooter to see his shots light up; click for his shots alone.
| Zone | FG | % | League |
|---|---|---|---|
| At the rim | 6-13 | 46.2% | 63% |
| In the paint | 10-18 | 55.6% | 40% |
| Mid-range | 17-37 | 45.9% | 40% |
| Corner 3 | 2-2 | 100.0% | 38% |
| Above-the-break 3 | 5-13 | 38.5% | 35% |
| Guarded by | Poss | Pts | FG | vs usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gary Harris | 30 | 6 | 2-8 | −3 |
| Will Barton | 12 | 1 | 0-1 | −3 |
| Torrey Craig | 11 | 5 | 2-2 | +2 |
| Jamal Murray | 7 | 0 | 0-1 | −2 |
| Everyone else | 15 | 8 | 3-9 | +3 |
The tracking credits him with 20 points on 73 possessions. He usually scores about 22 on that many.
| Guarded by | Poss | Pts | FG | vs usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamal Murray | 26 | 12 | 5-6 | +7 |
| Gary Harris | 7 | 4 | 2-2 | +3 |
| Will Barton | 4 | 0 | 0-1 | −1 |
| Nikola Jokić | 4 | 2 | 1-3 | +1 |
| Everyone else | 9 | 2 | 1-1 | 0 |
The tracking credits him with 20 points on 50 possessions. He usually scores about 10 on that many.
| Guarded by | Poss | Pts | FG | vs usual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nikola Jokić | 31 | 10 | 5-10 | 0 |
| Paul Millsap | 20 | 3 | 1-5 | −3 |
| Mason Plumlee | 9 | 4 | 2-6 | +1 |
| Everyone else | 11 | 2 | 1-4 | −2 |
The tracking credits him with 19 points on 72 possessions. He usually scores about 23 on that many.
What the players each one guarded scored, against what they usually score on as many possessions.
Possessions, and parts of possessions when defenders switched, from the NBA’s matchup tracking. The line under a defender’s name: his share of the scorer’s possessions. Usual: what the scorer averaged a possession against every defender in the regular season, eased toward the league’s rate when he has few possessions.
DEN win probability — AI model powered by play-by-play data
SAS
50/50
DEN
Highest Leverage Moments
Murray 17' Pullup Jump Shot (17 PTS) (Jokic 14 AST)
Q4 1:32
16.9%
21→37
Bertans 25' 3PT Jump Shot (5 PTS) (DeRozan 5 AST)
Q4 4:47
16.0%
37→21
Craig 3PT Jump Shot (3 PTS) (Plumlee 2 AST)
Q4 10:29
13.8%
29→43
Aldridge 5' Driving Floating Jump Shot (13 PTS) (DeRozan 4 AST)
Q4 6:41
12.5%
34→21
Harris 13' Step Back Bank Jump Shot (13 PTS) (Jokic 12 AST)
Q4 6:27
12.5%
21→34
