What Jamal Murray’s Game 5 Performance Means for the Nuggets ...Middle East

Jamal Murray had his best playoff game since the Nuggets title run in 2023. Is that version of him here to stay?

Since Jimmy Butler’s trade to the Golden State Warriors, he’s constantly referred to himself as the Robin to Stephen Curry’s Batman.

But there’s another team in the Western Conference that has often felt like Batman without Robin this season. The Denver Nuggets have always asked a lot from Nikola Jokic; that ask has gotten bigger this year as the rest of the team has suffered from bouts of inconsistency and unavailability.

At their best, the Nuggets are a championship contender. That’s easy to say when they’ve retained the core of their championship team from 2022-23. Jokic was the hub of everything then too, but Jamal Murray leveled up during the 2023 playoffs and played like an All-NBA player, giving the Nuggets answers to any test defenses had for them.

That Jamal Murray hasn’t been there in the last two regular seasons or postseasons, and it’s felt like the Nuggets’ title hopes have disappeared with him. The Nuggets have other good players, but Murray is the one capable of being the co-pilot to the offense for Jokic and he’s been more very good than elite lately.

DRIP rates him as the 41st-best player in the league, and that isn’t good enough to put the Nuggets on the level of teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder or Boston Celtics.

There were a couple of high-scoring playoff games for Murray last season, but they felt like mediocre sequels to iconic movies. He had a 32-point game against the Los Angeles Lakers, but it took him 28 shots. He had 35 points in the Game 7 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves that sent the Nuggets home but had three assists to four turnovers and shot just 4 of 12 on 3s.

He just hasn’t felt like the same playoff assassin since the title.

Until Tuesday night.

Murray had what was easily his best playoff game since 2023, erupting for 43 points and leading the Nuggets to a 131-115 win. And if that Murray is back, the Nuggets have to be taken seriously as a contender once more.

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Margin for Error

The Nuggets got a subpar scoring first quarter from Nikola Jokic. He did have six assists, but he shot just 2 of 7 from the field and split a pair of free throws for five points. It’s the kind of start the Nuggets wouldn’t have been able to afford from Jokic this season. If he didn’t play near his best for the entirety of the game against elite teams, the Nuggets didn’t have a chance to win.

But that’s no way to win a championship. Just ask the Milwaukee Bucks, who were eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in five games despite several moments of brilliance from Giannis Antetokounmpo.

So, it had to feel good for the Nuggets to be leading 35-23 after the first quarter on the back of Murray’s 10 points. He looked to be in a groove right away, nailing his two 3-point attempts in the quarter.

It’s the off-the-dribble shooting that makes Murray devastating when he’s at his best. He gets jumpers off quickly and accurately, slipping behind screens and utilizing a quick step back to get off a shot anytime there is the slightest bit of hesitation from the defense. Pair that in a two-man game with Jokic and it’s unguardable.

But Murray’s firepower isn’t all about Jokic and he showed that in Game 5. When Jokic was off the floor to start the second and fourth quarters, the Nuggets outscored the Clippers 32-30 combined. Anything that isn’t a train wreck when Jokic is on the bench is a victory; winning those minutes is a massive boon.

The Clippers have some great defenders to throw at Murray. Kris Dunn is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league and Derrick Jones Jr. has size, athleticism and discipline. But the Nuggets were able to generate favorable situations often in Game 5 and not just by using the pick-and-roll with Jokic, although that’s obviously a staple of the offense.

When Norman Powell was in the game and Murray was guarding him on defense, the Nuggets were conscious of trying to push the ball up the floor before the Clippers could switch to get a better defender on Murray. Even if those possessions didn’t end in a fast-break attempt, the Nuggets gave Murray a matchup with a subpar defender starting on him.

Even when Dunn the defender, Murray was able to shake him. When the Clippers went on a run to make the game competitive in the fourth quarter, it was Murray creating separation from Dunn and hitting a fadeaway over a helping Ivica Zubac to put the game out of reach.

It wasn’t just the stat line that was different for Murray. His confidence shone through the screen in a way it hasn’t in a long time.

There was the breakaway dunk and subsequent hyping of the crowd in the third quarter. Then, with just over two minutes left in the game and a 17-point lead, instead of walking the ball up the court, Murray sprinted it up and launched another 3-point that, of course, was good.

Maybe that wasn’t the smartest play on paper, but that’s the Murray Denver needs to win in the postseason. The confident gunner who makes the most of the openings Jokic creates and is dynamic enough to keep the team afloat for the few minutes Jokic is on the bench.

Magical Beginning or Mirage?

The game felt different for Murray, but it could just be a fleeting moment, a reminder of the player Murray was two postseasons ago.

After all, we’re just one game removed from Murray struggling mightily against the athletic defenders the Clippers employ. He had hit just 2 of 9 3-pointers combined in Games 3 and 4.

Those minutes without Jokic on the floor involved Murray sharing the court with Russell Westbrook and were largely kept afloat by an offensive explosion. That involved two straight 3-pointers by Westbrook in the second quarter. In a one-game sample, Westbrook and Murray going nuclear was enough to outscore the Clippers in those minutes.

But neither of those players keeps his man in front of him often on defense and the Clippers were routinely getting easy looks when both of those players shared the court without Jokic.

In Game 6, the minutes without Jokic could look a lot different if Murray and Westbrook don’t shoot the lights out. The Clippers aren’t out of this series. They’ve looked like the better team at times and have a player in Kawhi Leonard who is able to lift his team to victory just like Jokic. At the same time, Ivica Zubac had his best game of the series in Game 5 and presents a challenge for Jokic underneath.

But in this battle of two heavyweights in the first round, Murray regaining his form could be the difference. In this series, he’s shooting 57.1% from the field and 6 for 12 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter.

If he can truly be Playoff Jamal during another run, Denver might be the toughest out the Thunder face in the Western Conference, and we’re only one Nuggets’ win away from finding out if that’s true.

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What Jamal Murray’s Game 5 Performance Means for the Nuggets Opta Analyst.

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