The NBA playoff first-round series between the Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz was indeed one hell of a showdown, thanks in large part to each teams' bright young stars Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell.

The thrilling NBA showdown came to an epic conclusion on Tuesday, as the Nuggets narrowly escaped with an 80-78 win in Game 7 to advance to the second round.

Mitchell and Murray's careers will now forever be intertwined after that epic seven-game duel, where both combatants recorded two 50-plus point outings. While it was Murray's team who got their hands raised in the end, the pair expressed their mutual respect for one another after the final buzzer sounded.

The Nuggets committed a blunder of epic proportions in the end game after Torrey Craig flubbed an easy lay-up in transition and gave the Jazz one more chance to steal the victory. Mike Conley's late-game heave, however, rolled out of the rim as Denver dodged a major bullet.

Donovan Mitchell was noticeably left wide open in that final play, but he was unable to receive the ball. The Spida finished with 22 points on 9-of-22 field goal shooting and 2-of-8 from downtown. Jamal Murray, on the other hand, figured in an off-night, tallying just 17 points, two rebounds, four assists, and one steal on 7-for-21 shooting from the field and 1-of-6 from distance.

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