The Nuggets need this Jamal Murray to win an NBA Championship

Jamal Murray sank the 769th 3-pointer of his Denver Nuggets career on the first possession of Tuesday’s second half. Murray was drifting toward the top of the 3-point arc when Nikola Jokic passed him the ball out of a double-team. Without any hesitation, Murray fired in his fifth 3-pointer of the night, which moved him past JR Smith for the second-most made 3s in Denver Nuggets history.

Murray, who’s now sitting on 771 career 3-pointers after drilling seven triples in the Nuggets’ 122-113 win over the Pelicans, was informed postgame that he has to make around 30 more 3s to move past Will Barton (804 made 3s with the Nuggets) to become the franchise’s all-time leader.

“I’ll get there in like three games,” he said.

Murray was tremendous in the Nuggets’ latest win, tallying a game-high 32 points on a clean 10-21 shooting from the field and 7-12 from 3 to go with 5 rebounds and 6 assists. He got Denver off to a strong first-quarter start by making his first three 3-pointers of the night. His step-back 3 in front of the Nuggets’ bench to give Denver a 116-107 lead with 2:23 left in the fourth quarter served as an early dagger on the Pelicans’ night.

Seven 3-pointers is the most made 3s for Murray in a game this season. It’s tied for the third-most made 3s in a game for his career. Murray sank a career-high nine 3s in his 46-point game against the Suns way back in 2018. He had eight 3s in a February, 2021 win in Cleveland — the one where Murray went for 50 points on 21-25 shooting — and hit seven 3s for the first time in his career in a 2019 win over Memphis.

But it wasn’t just the number of 3s that Murray hit against New Orleans. It was how we hit them.

There wasn’t any hesitation on any of these triples. There was no second-guessing. Murray shot these with a decisiveness that we sometimes don’t see from him.

Murray is an incredibly gifted and talented scorer. He has an All-NBA offensive game. Murray can put the ball in the basket from anywhere on the floor. He’s one of the toughest shot-makers in the league. But for some reason, Murray can have a cautious trigger. He passes up way more shots than he should. Perhaps it’s just Murray abiding by the Nuggets’ credo of passing up good shots for great ones. But sometimes, Murray has the propensity to pass up what are considered great shots for him.

“I was just playing,” Murray said. “I think I was just open early and I found a rhythm early. And that just kind of set me up for the rest of the game.”

This version of Murray, one that has no hesitancy within his offensive game, is the one that the Nuggets need to win a championship this season. The Nuggets are a really, really good team when Murray is in the lineup. They’re a great team and a team that can win the NBA Championship this season when Murray is playing with the assertiveness that he was vs. New Orleans.

On the season, Murray is averaging 19.4 points (45.2 FG%, 39.2 3P%), 4.1 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game. Ever since his December 8th game-winner in Portland — a shot that some within the Nuggets believe really got his season going — Murray is averaging 21 points (47 FG%, 41.4 3P%), 4.5 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game. Those latter numbers are in line with his pre-ACL averages from the 2020-21 season.

They’re the types of numbers the Nuggets need from Murray to accomplish their goal of an NBA Championship this season. How Murray played against the Pelicans was just right. He had total command of the game. He dictated the pace. He got others involved. He ran Denver’s offense with a steady hand but pressed the issue when he felt was appropriate. He stayed shot-ready. He decisively fired up 3-pointers from all areas of the floor.

It was the total right balance and resulted in one of his best offensive games of the season. That’s the Murray that the Denver Nuggets need this year.