
West playoffs: Jamal Murray drops 30 as Nuggets take Game 1
Jamal Murray leads Nuggets to Game 1 victory with 30 points!
Nikola Jokic recorded a triple-double and Jamal Murray scored 30 points, leading the Denver Nuggets to a 116-105 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of the 2026 NBA Playoffs.
How Nikola Jokic triple-double, Jamal Murray free-throw outburst led Nuggets to Game 1 win over Timberwolves originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Denver Nuggets' two stars were at their best to open the 2026 NBA Playoffs.
In a 116-105 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves to open the teams' first-round series, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray led the way for the third-seeded Nuggets, lifting their squad in the second half in front of their home crowd.
Jokic, for the 22nd time in his career, put up a playoff triple-double despite a lackluster start in the matchup, while Murray consistently got to the free-throw line en route to a 30-point night.
Here's a look at how the Nuggets' star duo paved the way to take a 1-0 series lead over the Timberwolves.
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In the early portion of Saturday's Game 1, it looked like the Timberwolves had a good gameplan for their series against the NBA's best stat-stuffing talent, Jokic. The star center, at one point in the first half, had four turnovers to just three points.
Nikola Jokic achieved a triple-double, marking the 22nd of his playoff career.
Jamal Murray scored 30 points during the game, contributing significantly to the victory.
The final score was 116-105 in favor of the Denver Nuggets.
The Nuggets lifted their performance in the second half, which helped them secure the win.

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But as the action picked up, Jokic did what he does best, leading the Nuggets' offense to a big third quarter (29-17) and packing a punch in the stat sheet as he did so.
Even with his slow start, Jokic wound up with a triple-double, the 22nd of his career in the playoffs. He had three in the Nuggets' 2024-25 run, two in 2023-24, and a whopping 10 triple-doubles on Denver's title run in 2022-23.
After leading the NBA in assists this season, Jokic picked up where he left off with 11.
He began heating up toward the end of the first half after Rudy Gobert Minnesota slowed him down in the early minutes.
With the Timberwolves hanging around in the fourth quarter, Jokic began to put the ball in the basket more — he had an and-one floater, then an easy tip-in to fire up the Denver crowd, and the Nuggets began coasting to a win.
Things got heated between Jokic and the Timberwolves on multiple occasions, including a skirmish with Jaden McDaniels. But the star center got the best of Minnesota in Game 1.
When Jokic was having a slow first half by his standards, Murray was picking up the slack offensively. The guard, with plenty of elite playoff performances to his name despite his NBA resume not being too extensive, was getting to the line at a historic rate — Murray set a new-career high with 16 trips to the line.
He made all 16 free throws, more than the entire Timberwolves team combined (14), offsetting a game in which he missed all eight of his 3-point attempts.
Even with his shot from deep being off, Murray's craftiness around the rim was on full display.
For the 20th time in his playoff career, Murray reached 30 points. He combined for 55 points alongside Jokic, with the Nuggets taking early command of the first-round series.