Denver’s Paul Millsap, left, goes up for a shot against the Clippers’ Marcus Morris Sr. on Friday in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The Nuggets won 111-105 to pull within 3-2 in their Western Conference semifinal series. Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Paul Millsap scored 14 of his 17 points in the third quarter, Michael Porter Jr. made a late 3-pointer and the Denver
Nuggets overcame a 15-point, second-half deficit to stun the Los Angeles Clippers 111-105 on Friday night in Game 5.
Denver — down 16 in the first half — trailed 61-46 with 9:42 remaining in the third before rallying behind the 35-year-old Millsap.
The Nuggets took their first lead on Nikola Jokic’s 3-pointer with 7:06 left and extended it to eight. After the Clippers pulled within a basket, Porter hit a deep 3-pointer with 1:11 remaining to all but wrap it up.
Jamal Murray finished with 26 points, and Jokic added 22 points and 14 rebounds to help the Nuggets pull to 3-2 in the best-of-seven series. Game 6 is Sunday.
This marked Denver’s fourth elimination-game win of this postseason, the team’s most since capturing six win-or-go-home games during the 1994 playoff run. The Nuggets came back from a 3-1 deficit to win their first-round series against Utah.
Kawhi Leonard scored 36 points and Paul George added 26 for the Clippers, who are searching for the franchise’s first appearance in a conference finals. They’re 0-6 in games where they could clinch a trip to the conference finals.
Millsap and Marcus Morris jawed at each other face-to-face late in the first half and had to be separated. Morris was given a technical foul.
NOTES
NBA DRAFT: The NBA is proceeding with tentative plans for a Nov. 18 draft, though has cautioned teams that the date could move yet again, a person with knowledge of the matter told The Associated Press on Friday.
The league told teams earlier in the week that it was working toward that draft date, and moved closer to firming up those plans in meetings with the board of governors and general managers over the past two days, according to the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because there has been no public announcement.
So, Nov. 18 becomes the third target for the draft. It was originally set for June 25, then moved to Oct. 16, and now has been pushed back again as the league continues looking for the best path toward a 2020-21 season.
GRIZZLIES: Memphis hired Sonia Raman as an assistant coach. She replaces Niele Ivey, who was hired by Notre Dame in April.
Raman spent the past 12 seasons as women’s basketball coach at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she reached the NCAA Tournament twice. The Engineers went 91-45 over her final five seasons. She started coaching as an assistant at her alma mater, Tufts. She then spent six years as an assistant at Wellesley.
ROCKETS: Swingman Danuel House is the first player ejected from the NBA bubble.
“House had a guest in his hotel room over multiple hours on Sept. 8 who was not authorized to be on campus,” the league said in a statement Friday evening. House is leaving the bubble and not coming back.
House had sat out the Rockets’ last two losses to the Lakers this week while the league investigated him and teammate Tyson Chandler, who was later cleared. The guest was a woman who worked in the bubble as a coronavirus tester, according to multiple reports.
Players aren’t supposed to have any guests, even teammates, in their bubble hotel rooms. The NBA busted House based on “door data,” presumably meaning House’s door opening and closing. The woman, who like the rest of the virus testers does not live on campus, entered the Rockets’ hotel on Monday night and left hours later.
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