Derrick White exacts his revenge on Jamal Murray

In Game 2 of Nuggets vs. Spurs, Jamal Murray broke out of a brief slumber to light up San Antonio in a magical fourth quarter and get Denver the sorely needed win. Murray did it to Derrick White, the Spurs’ second-year, defense-first, Coloradoan point guard who was in the G League as recently as November 2018.

White did not get down on himself. He got revenge. The former Division II collegiate basketball player dropped a career-high 36 on Murray and Nuggets in Game 3 on Thursday, leading the Spurs to a victory and a 2-1 series lead. Murray had just six points on six attempts as White played excellent defense on him.

Both of these teams came into the series with top-10 offenses, but Denver’s No. 10 defense figured to be a big deal considering San Antonio (No. 20 defense) was inconsistent on that end all season. But the Nuggets are having real trouble slowing down the Spurs’ attack: San Antonio is averaging 114 points per 100 possessions through three games.

Denver can probably survive Murray having a tough offensive series, provided Nikola Jokic, Paul Millsap, and Gary Harris get uncorked. But Denver can’t survive if Murray is getting lit up by White, who is now averaging 23 points per game on 69 percent shooting this series. The Nuggets’ defense has to be better than that of the Spurs for Denver to survive. The clock is ticking.

Sixers 131, Nets 115
Philadelphia leads 2-1

Nuggets 108, Spurs 118
San Antonio leads 2-1

Warriors 132, Clippers 105
Golden State leads 2-1

Raptors at Magic, 7 ET, ESPN
Series tied 1-1

Celtics at Pacers, 8:30 ET, ABC
Bostons leads 2-0

Blazers at Thunder, 9:30 ET, ESPN
Portland leads 2-0

In case you’d forgotten, Kevin Durant is extremely good. He dropped 38 on the Clippers in an emphatic Warriors win in LA, and he looked more like the two-time Finals MVP he is than he has at any point maybe this season.

Joel Embiid sat out Game 3 with continued knee soreness (yikes!) but Tobias Harris was in full Tobias Harris form and Philadelphia beat Brooklyn at Barclays to retake home-court advantage. Ben Simmons was good, too.

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Be excellent to each other.