Basketball: Crowd help Nuggets to first game seven win in 41 years

Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, left, looks to move the ball as San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills defends. Photo / AP

Time was winding down and the San Antonio Spurs couldn't hear their coach screaming for someone to foul over all the noise.

That's one for the Denver crowd.

The Nuggets also are making some noise in the NBA playoffs, as Nikola Jokic had another triple-double, Jamal Murray hit a clutch floater with 36.8s remaining and the Nuggets held off the Spurs 90-86 in game seven yesterday to advance in the post-season for the first time in a decade.

"I love the grit, the resiliency, the toughness we played with [yesterday]," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. "Even late when they made their run ... we never lost our composure."

In a match-up between a Denver team with the youngest playoff roster in the West and the savvy Spurs, the second-seeded Nuggets built a 17-point lead in the third quarter, only to see it whittled down to two with 52s remaining.

Jokic finished with 21 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, with no pass bigger than the one to set up Murray's floater. DeMar DeRozan had a chance to slice into the deficit but was blocked by Torrey Craig, who played in the New Zealand NBL for the Wellington Saints in 2015-16.

With time running out, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich yelled for someone to commit a foul, just to prolong the game.

The roar was too loud. The Nuggets were able to essentially run out the time and begin their celebration.

"After the game, you're thinking, 'why didn't they foul?"' Craig said.

Easy: It was just too loud. Denver went an NBA-best 34-7 at home in the regular season and rode the energy of the packed house all the way to the end.

"I missed it," LaMarcus Aldridge said of Popovich calling for a foul. "That's it."

Since making the Western Conference finals in 2009, the Nuggets have bowed out in the first round on four occasions. This was their first playoff appearance in six seasons.

Denver will host third-seeded Portland in a second-round series that begins tomorrow afternoon.

Murray added 23 points for the Nuggets, who captured a game seven for the first time since May 3, 1978, when David Thompson had 37 in a win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

"Anxiety is a good word," Malone joked.

Rudy Gay had 21 points for San Antonio, while DeRozan and Bryn Forbes each added 19. The Spurs fell to 3-4 in game sevens under Popovich.

- AP