A winner was needed, and it was the Nuggets who won 4-3 against Utah after being down 3-1. It was September 1, 2020, in the “bubble” at the end of a legendary first round. What a great series offered by the two franchises, made formidable by two duels: the one between Nikola Jokic and Rudy Gobert inside, and especially the one between Jamal Murray And Donovan Mitchell outside.
Both were at the top of their game with finally 31.5 points at 55% including 55% from afar for the first and 36.2 points at 53% including 52% from afar for the second. With 33 three-pointers in a series, he beats by one the record held by Stephen Curry – which Jamal Murray equals, himself.
Never before had a duel been so prolific in history, with the two men erasing Jerry West and John Havlicek from the records with 475 points in seven games.
They also rank first (101 in Game 4), third (94 in Game 6) and fourth (93 in Game 1) in the number of combined points by two opponents in a match. An epic duel full of respect: it was Jamal Murray who was the first to go comfort Donovan Mitchell after the buzzer.
“It was an incredible duel. He carries his team in every match, victory or defeat” details the leader of his opponent's Nuggets. “He fights and you have to respect that. We talk off the field too. We are both at adidas, we see each other often. I respect him a lot. It was a great battle and it won’t be the last: we hope to fight for a long time to come. He raises my level of play, I raise his. We fight each other and it’s fun. We get the best out of each other.”
A vision completely shared by the Jazz guard, who scored 254 points in the series, the eighth highest total in history, the highest since 1977, but who leaves with the defeat.
“This is just the beginning” he had hammered home in a press conference to console Jazz fans and reassure them about his future in Utah. This is also just the beginning of this rivalry between the two 23-year-old players, and four years later, the first has left for Cleveland, and the second is already an NBA champion.
