Rookie guard Jamal Murray made a go-ahead layup with 1.8 seconds left in overtime of the Nuggets’ Las Vegas summer league game Saturday. But Tyler Ulis, who shared the backcourt with Murray at Kentucky, answered with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from near half court that gave the Phoenix Suns an 82-81 victory at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center.
The Suns (4-1) advanced to the semifinals of the summer league tournament against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Denver finished 3-2.
Tyler Ulis' buzzer beating game winner shot against the (via the Cauldron):
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews)
There were 19 lead changes in the Denver-Phoenix quarterfinal game.
After struggling to find the basket early, Murray posted his third game in a row of 20-plus points, finishing with 29 points and 13-of-26 shooting. The first-round draft pick also had seven rebounds and three assists. Jimmer Fredette, a former BYU star, added 16 points for the Nuggets and Juan Hernangomez contributed a double-double (10 points and a team-high 12 rebounds).
Ulis, a second-round draft pick, finished with 19 points and 3-of-5 shooting on 3-point attempts. Troy Williams led the Suns with 22 points. Alan Williams grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds.
The Nuggets shot only 42.1 percent from the field (33-of-80) and just 61.1 percent from the free-throw line (11-of-18). They committed 16 turnovers, but they outrebounded the Suns 48-40.
Murray, the No. 7 pick in the draft last month, scored 22 points and made 10-of-16 shots after halftime.
