After taking early control of the series against the Denver Nuggets, the San Antonio Spurs are on the brink of elimination. What can we learn from their Game 5 loss?
Heading into Game 5 against the Denver Nuggets, the road contest was a must-win for the San Antonio Spurs. Win and they’d get a chance to close out the series at home. Lose and they’d have to come back from a 3-2 deficit at home to force a Game 7.
The Nuggets made sure to take control of Game 5 from the outset. San Antonio had a five-point lead early in the first quarter, but once the Nuggets took the lead, they never looked back, stretching out their advantage to 30 points at one point.
The first quarter was all Jamal Murray and Gary Harris and their 3-point barrage, going a combined 4-for-8 from beyond the arc for a total of 14 points. They almost outscored the Spurs by themselves as San Antonio only managed 19 points total for the quarter.
The second quarter was more of Murray, and instead of Harris, it was Will Barton that he combined with to score 14 of the Nuggets’ 29 points. Denver went into halftime with a 53-42 lead.
The third quarter put the nail in the coffin for the Spurs. The team only managed 21 points for the quarter while Nikola Jokic and yes, Murray once again, combined for 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 4-for-6 in 3-pointers. The Nuggets prevailed easily in Game 5 with a final score of 108-90.
The 90 points for the Spurs represented their lowest output of the series so far. So what can we take away from Game 5 heading into an elimination Game 6?
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