"That's what I do!" Inside Jamal Murray's return

539 days away from the game, nearly 18 months, a tiring rehab and an endless amount of reps on the practice court. All for this moment.

Jamal Murray returned Monday night at Ball Arena. It was just Denver’s preseason opener and played in front of only around 12,000 people, but it was a moment that Murray, the Nuggets’ organization, and its fans have been waiting for for what seemed like forever.

Here’s how the night unfolded.

6:00 pm: Murray takes the floor for warmups

Murray went through the typical pre-game warmup that he did every game before his injury. It starts with form shooting from the restricted area and expands to mid-range jumpers, both off the catch and off the dribble. Murray then goes around the 3-point arc, making shots at seven different spots. Next is 1-on-1 work with Denver’s player development coaches. Murray starts at around half-court, dribbles at his defender and works on his pull-up jumper, both from 3 and mid-range.

Jamal Murray ahead of his first NBA game in 18 months. pic.twitter.com/2DVPpIxGLP

— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) October 4, 2022

Since the injury, Murray hasn’t altered his pregame routine too much. He still gets to the arena around the same time every day and goes through the same warmup. The only change he’s added is an extra 10 minutes for stretching.

Prior to his warmup tonight, Murray chatted with his father, Roger, who flew in for the game and will be in town for a bit.

7:10 pm: Pregame introductions

Nikola Jokic always gets introduced first during pregame player intros. It’s been the case since a few games into the 2018-19 season when he switched from being introduced last to first. Ever since the switch, Murray (when he’s played) gets introduced last.

It was a really cool moment finally hearing Murray’s name called again by Nuggets public address announcer Kyle Speller. It felt like a return to Nuggets normalcy. It felt right.

After he was introduced, Murray got mobbed by his teammates.

POV: You’re announced as a starter for the Denver Nuggets for the first time in 539 days.

Welcome back, Jamal Murray. pic.twitter.com/sypG7aokbz

— Katy Winge (@katywinge) October 4, 2022

1st quarter, 7:09 remaining: Murray misses his first free-throw

Murray missed his first shot of the game. He clanged a step-back deep two early in the first quarter. Then after a Thunder technical, Murray walked to the free-throw line with his first point of the night there for the taking.

The 88% career free-throw shooter couldn’t keep it together. He missed.

“I was laughing,” Murray. “Joker said, ‘Go shoot it.’ I was walking by, ‘OK, I’m about to make my shot right here,’ and everybody started cheering. I was like, ‘Ah damn!’ And I started smiling. It got to my head.”

Murray missed his next shot too. Out of a timeout and off a designed play-call, he drew iron on a 3-pointer from the top of the arc.

“I felt like a rookie out there,” he said. “The faster pace. On a couple closeouts, I was like, ‘Man, he was coming on pretty fast,’ but he really wasn’t, so I rushed a couple shots I could make. The game was moving a lot faster than I expected. Then on top of that, the adrenaline. Then, on top of that, I missed my first couple. I was like, ‘Damn, I missed a free throw.'”

2nd quarter, 6:19 remaining: Murray’s first basket

Murray got on the board shortly after he checked back for his second stint of the game during the second quarter. Ish Smith found him in the corner on a Nuggets fastbreak. Swish.

“Obviously, there was a lot of excitement,” said Murray. “It’s been a while. Like I said, I don’t really care if I don’t score, I did care a little bit.”

“When I sat down, ultimately the nerves settled. I got relaxed and I just went out there and played. It was good, it was a good feeling. I had a lot of fun and like I said, I’m just happy to be out there.”

2nd quarter, 1:27 remaining: The Murray-Jokic pick-and-roll leads to a Michael Porter Jr. 3

Murray’s corner 3 got him in a rhythm. He then powered through Tre Mann in the post for a tough layup. After that, Murray stuck a step-back 3 right in Josh Giddey’s eye. He also started to get into the two-man game with his favorite pick-and-roll partner. Murray and Jokic fell into that familiar action several times Monday night.

This one led to a Porter Jr. 3.

“I was very excited for him,” Porter Jr. said. “I was almost happier for him than I was for myself. Seeing him hit that big shot and the crowd go crazy, he makes the game so much easier for all of us. He’s a big piece if we ever want to be a championship team. He’s a very very big part of that. I was just happy to see him out there and smiling, even when he didn’t make the first couple of shots. Just to see that he was fine. He’s a team player and he’s there to win.”

2nd quarter buzzer: A signature shot

Murray loves to take and make big shots. He loves the pressure, the moment, the eyeballs, and everything that comes with those situations. He got one of those moments at the end of the second quarter.

Murray dribbled the length of the floor with 6.6 seconds remaining in the half and eventually got a step on Kenrich Williams while going to his left. He jumped off his left foot while drifting left and sunk this leaner high off the glass.

The pent-up emotion from the last 539 days spilled out.

“That’s what I do!” Murray shouted after the buzzer-beater.

“That’s what I do. That’s exactly what I said,” Murray admitted postgame. “I haven’t been in that mode in a while, you know. I haven’t been locked in for what it feels like is the last couple of years. Just to be locked in, I had that mentally from a few years ago. Just to bring that out at the start of the year, I was just excited.”

That shot was the capper on a successful debut, even though the Nuggets lost their preseason opener 112-101. Murray was expectedly rusty in the first quarter but settled in quickly. He even flashed for a couple of possessions. Those moments felt like the old Jamal Murray.

Murray’s final line: 10 points (4-7 FGs, 2-3 3 FGs), 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 turnovers in 15 minutes. After halftime, he and Denver’s starters’ nights were over.

Now comes rest and recovery — something he hasn’t done yet after a game — before Denver’s second preseason matchup Friday in Chicago. Murray said late Monday night that he felt good immediately following the game.

“It’s a checkmark for sure,” Murray said. “It’s one of those mental checks just to be out there and feel it and move on from there. Got my feel. Felt the crowd. Felt the team, the ball moment, moving on the floor. Just all of that. It’s different than practice. It’s way different. It was just a lot of fun.”

---

Monday night was a big step. It was a checkmark, as Murray put it. He can cross it off the list. He finally played in a game again.

There’s still a long road ahead, but at least for Murray that road now has a map. He’ll gradually become more comfortable on the floor. He’ll build up his game little by little. He’ll work to mesh with Jokic, Porter and his teammates. His minutes will increase as he rediscovers his game.

It all won’t come back at once. Slowly but surely he’ll become Jamal Murray again. Those signature moments, like the one he had Monday, will become more frequent. The step-back 3s will continue to go in at higher and higher rates. His floor game will become smoother by the minute. But the hard part is out of the way.

“This is gonna be a hell of a year,” Murray said.