Monday marked the latest chapter in the story of “Playoff Jamal.”
Despite his struggles shooting the ball, Nuggets guard Jamal Murray found his late-game magic once again in Game 5 of Denver’s first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers, hitting a pullup jumper with 4.0 seconds left to give his team a 108-106 win and eliminate LeBron James and co. from the postseason.
JAMAL MURRAY GAME WINNER 😱
NUGGETS ELIMINATE THE LAKERS 😤 pic.twitter.com/MTCJuMXM2r
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 30, 2024
Murray finished the game with a game-high 32 points to go with seven assists, all while playing with a sore calf that had his status for Game 5 in question before he took the floor.
Since play-by-play stats started being recorded in 1997, Murray is the only NBA player with multiple go-ahead baskets in the final five seconds in one playoff series.
He’s the fourth player to do it in a single postseason. Here’s a look at the other three who came up clutch on multiple occasions for their teams in the playoffs.
LeBron James (2018)
The last player to hit two go-ahead shots in the final five seconds in one postseason was James, who was on wrong end of the late-game heroics this time around.
In Game 5 of the Eastern Conference first round against the Indiana Pacers, James hit a pull-up 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Cleveland Cavaliers a 98-95 win and a 3-2 series lead. LeBron finished the game with 44 points, and just moments before the game-winner he blocked a go-ahead attempt by Victor Oladipo on the other end of the floor.
2018 LeBron James vs. 2009 LeBron James. #Cavs #Pacers #Magic pic.twitter.com/71MAa2xDkd
— Cavs Nation (@CavsNationCP) April 26, 2018
The fourth-seeded Cavaliers played the top-seeded Raptors in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but Toronto was unable to slow down the freight train that was LeBron and co. After taking a 2-0 series lead, James scored a ridiculous basket — driving left and floating the ball up with his right hand as he faded out of bounds — at the buzzer to give Cleveland an insurmountable series lead.
The Cavs went on to make the 2018 NBA Finals, but they were eventually swept in the series by the Golden State Warriors.
Entering this postseason, James was 11-for-23 on field goal attempts during the final 30 seconds of a playoff game, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range. The next closest player in terms of clutch field goal attempts during the same period was Manu Ginobili, who was 5-for-13 over the course of his career.
Hedo Turkoglu (2009)
The Orlando Magic have made two Finals appearances in their franchise history, the latest of which came in 2009 on the backs of Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis and international sharpshooter Hedo Turkoglu.
Down 2-1 in the first round to the Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando desperately needed a win in Game 4 to turn things around. In the final moments the Magic were tied with the Sixers, 81-81. That’s when Turkoglu hit a deep three over Thaddeus Young to give his team the lead in waning seconds. The Magic went on to win the final two games of the series.
Orlando played James and the Cavaliers in that year’s Eastern Conference Finals. Late in Game 2 with the two teams tied at 93-93, Turkoglu hit a mid-range jumper with just one second left to give the Magic the lead. Unfortunately for Turkoglu and his teammates, James then won the game on the other end with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the top of the key.
Turkoglu had a wildly underrated NBA career. While he never made an All-Star team, he was named the NBA’s most-improved player in 2007-08 after averaging 19.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game for the Magic that season.
Turkoglu retired from the NBA in 2015. He currently serves as the President of the Turkish Basketball Federation.
Robert Horry (2002)
The origins of “Big Shot Bob” trace back to the mid-1990s, but Robert Horry saved the biggest stretch of his career for the 2002 NBA playoffs while playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.
His first go-ahead basket in clutch time came in Game 3 of the Western Conference first round against the Portland Trailblazers. Leading the series 2-0 but down 91-89 in the waning seconds, Horry hit a corner three off an assist from Kobe Bryant to lift the Lakers to the series win.
Arguably the biggest shot of Horry’s career came in the Western Conference Finals against the Sacramento Kings. The Kings led the series 2-1 after three games and looked like they might take Game 4, too. Sacramento led, 99-97, with 10 seconds left, but after a scrum at the basket in the final moments, the ball was tipped out to Horry at the top of the key, and he nailed the go-ahead 3-pointer with 0.1 seconds left to give Los Angeles the 100-99 win.
That year, the Lakers went on to sweep the New Jersey Nets in the NBA Finals. That was thew third straight championship for Horry, who finished his career as one of nine players with at least seven NBA Finals wins.
