Jamal Murray’s brilliant fourth-quarter leads Nuggets over Grizzlies

The Nuggets sent a playoff-worthy message to Memphis Friday night, courtesy of a special delivery from Jamal Murray.

The guard, off his game early, took charge late and finished with 22 points, 11 of them coming during a pivotal run in the fourth quarter.

Ignited by Murray, the Nuggets, the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, beat the second-seeded Grizzlies 113-97 and captured the season series, 2-1.

“It was a really good defensive game from both teams,” Murray said. “I think our defense ignited our offense later in the game.”

Coach Michael Malone heaped praise on his guard.

“I thought Jamal Murray just came alive,” Malone said. “As that game went along and got deeper and deeper, I thought that Jamal kind of put the team on his back there for a little bit and made big play after big play.”

The Grizzlies dominated the sluggish Nuggets, 112-94, in Memphis just eight days ago, so Friday’s game had some extra meaning and emotion.

“We came out sloppy and without any energy in Memphis and (tonight) we knew we couldn’t do that,” Murray said. “We brought energy from the start.”

That was apparent late in the first quarter when Denver’s Jeff Green, seemingly out of nowhere, chased down the Grizzlies’ John Konchar and slapped his shot away at the rim. The incredible block brought the fans to their feet.

“That was huge,” Murray said. “He came from half court and the dude (Konchar) was already at the free-throw line. That’s very hard to do.”

With 18 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists, center Nikola Jokic turned in the 101st triple-double of his career and 25th this season. The Nuggets are now 25-0 this season when Jokic submits a triple-double.

Michael Porter Jr. led all scorers with 26 points on 8 of 14 shooting and he also hauled in seven rebounds.

This game oozed with a playoff atmosphere, replete with hard fouls, technical fouls, momentum swings and a frenetic sellout crowd at Ball Arena.

The Nuggets improved to 29-4 at home — the best record in the NBA — and their 33-point explosion in the fourth quarter showed how formidable they are at a mile above sea level.

Out-muscled and out-shot, the Nuggets trailed the Grizzlies 58-50 at the half. It was an ugly game at that point but the Nuggets’ ferocious defense kept them in the game even when they couldn’t hit open shots.

The most-damning statistic: Denver, one of the NBA’s best shooting teams, was 2 for 14 on 3-pointers and opened the game shooting 0 of 11 behind the arc. The Nuggets didn’t make a 3-pointer until Bruce Brown connected with 3:34 left in the second quarter.

“I told our guys at halftime that we were only down (eight), (even though) we had made 2 of 14 on 3s and had some really good shots,” Malone said. “I said, ‘Fellas, we’re right in this game. .. That fourth quarter was, by far, one of our best fourth quarters of the season, against a really good basketball team.”

The Grizzlies weren’t exactly sharpshooters (7 for 22 on 3s and 18 for 47 overall in the first half), but they drained enough long shots to hold the edge.