Jamal Murray spoke of his excitement on facing Damian Lillard in the Western Conference semifinals.

“I love competing against Dame. He’s a competitor. He goes at you, doesn’t disrespect you, just plays the right way, plays for his team and plays for his city. I love going against him. It’s going to be a challenge, and it’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Murray.

Murray scored 16 out of his 23 points in the second half of game 7 to eliminate the Spurs.

The Nuggets won 3 out of 4 games in the regular season against the Blazers.

Nikola Jokic finished with 21 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists as the Denver Nuggets beat the San Antonio Spurs 90-86 to win the series in 7 games.

"He's magnificent. Magnificent. I'll just leave it at that," said Gregg Popovich on Jokic.

Jokic recorded the first triple-double in game 7 since LeBron James in the 2016 NBA Finals.

"I think the team expected me to do something, so I'm just going out there and trying to play my best basketball possible. So is it something that I live for? No. It's just really good stats," said Jokic.

Michael Malone reflected about how far the Nuggets have come during his time with the team.

"You looked in the stands, it was witness protection night. There was nobody here. Really ... to see where we've come in four years, to being a team that won a Game 7 at home and advancing to the second round for the first time in a while, is incredible. It's almost surreal at times," said Malone.

The Nuggets play the Blazers in the Western Conference semifinals starting Monday.

Michael Malone said the Denver Nuggets were living in the moment after winning their first game in San Antonio since 2012. The Nuggets' 117-103 win tied the series 2-2.

"I saw a confidence. I saw a young team that was not thinking about 2012. Because if you think about the last seven years that's going to overwhelm you. We're living in the present. We're living today," said Malone.

Malone emphasized the importance of physicality before the game. Gregg Popovich said the Spurs failed to respond.

"Overall, the Nuggets competed, and we did not. Their physicality was obvious from the get-go. We knew that was gonna happen, and we did not respond. So it was a very disappointing loss, 'cause I think the Nuggets played harder and smarter than we did," Popovich.

DeMar DeRozan was ejected in the 4th quarter after throwing a ball at official Scott Foster.

"Frustration. I thought it was a bad call. Combination of both," said DeRozan on his ejection. 

Michael Malone said he wants to see Jamal Murray respond to Derrick White's performance in game 4 of their series against the San Antonio Spurs. 

White finished with a career-high 36 points in the Spurs' game 3 win.

"I'm hoping that [Murray] kind of has the same reaction Derrick White had. Derrick White was a recipient of Jamal Murray's great play in the fourth quarter of Game 2 and he came out in Game 3 highly motivated and in attack mode. And we got to get Jamal playing at a higher level. In 12 quarters, Jamal has impacted the game at a high level in one of those. And Derrick White right now is at 23 points per game, 69 percent from the field [for the series]. Jamal has got to take that personally and I expect that to happen tomorrow afternoon," said Malone.

Malone added that Nuggets need to be more physical in making the Spurs uncomfortable. 

"You have to be willing to [deliver] a hard foul sometimes because when a guy gets that comfortable, it was 36 points, [24] was in our paint, at some point this becomes ridiculous. It's on our guards because he didn't feel us. It's on our bigs. It's on whoever is near the basket, send a message, put him on the foul line, make him earn it. I'm not saying play dirty, but in the playoffs, it's got to be physical basketball and you got to make teams earn everything and it was way too easy for them."

Jamal Murray scored 21 out of his 24 points in the 4th quarter as the Denver Nuggets evened their series against the San Antonio Spurs.

Murray, who shot just 8-23 from the field in game 1, missed his first 8 shots in game 2. The Nuggets trailed by as much as 19 points in the 3rd quarter before Murray's comeback.

Michael Malone said he believed in Murray despite his early playoff struggles.

"I was going with him. He needs this. This is so important for all of our guys, but especially Jamal. You know, a young player, third year. Even though he was out there struggling, he was trying to play the right way. I didn't foresee the fourth quarter he was going to have, but I knew in my heart he needed to get these minutes. I needed to show him I believed in him. That's powerful. If I pull him -- 'Does coach really believe in me? Does he have my back.' So I had to stay with Jamal make or miss, because he's our guy, and I care about him. He came through in a big way, and never once did I think about pulling him from the lineup," said Malone.

Jamal Murray worked on his jumper while teammates showered and addressed the media following a 8-24 performance in the Denver Nuggets' 101-96 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

Murray missed an open jumper with 13 seconds left in the game that would have put the Nuggets in the lead.

“I took some shots on every shot I missed, especially that one I missed, the open one at the end of the game. I was just shooting. I was frustrated...I’ll bounce back. My teammates have confidence in me. Coach has confidence in me. It’s up to me now," said Murray.

Nikola Jokic, who finished with a triple-double, said Murray made the right decision in taking the shot.

“He was wide open, I think it’s a great shot for us. He didn’t make it. I’m good with that. At least he was wide open. It was uncontested. We’re good. We’re going to live with that," said Jokic.

The Denver Nuggets plan to rest Paul Millsap, Nikola Jokic, and Jamal Murray for Sunday's game against the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Nuggets clinched their division and home-court in the first round with a win over the Blazers on Friday.

The Blazers have a 1-game lead over the Jazz for home-court in the first round of the playoffs. 

The Washington Wizards are looking to hire Tim Connelly from the Denver Nuggets to replace Ernie Grunfeld as the president of basketball operations.

Connelly, who began his career as an intern for the Wizards, has impressed with his work in building the Nuggets.

Connelly signed a new contract extension with the Nuggets just two months ago.