DNVR Player Grades: Jamal Murray looks refreshed, recharged, refocused and re-energized

Jamal Murray missed just just three of his 17 field goal attempts Saturday night. He misfired only twice on eight attempts from beyond the arc. But Murray’s most impressive play in the Nuggets’ 117-108 win over the Phoenix Suns didn’t result in an additional two or three points to the right of his name on Denver’s boxscore.

Looking to put the Nuggets’ 37th win of the season on ice, Murray came off a dribble hand-off from Nikola Jokic at the top of the 3-point arc, took a few dribbles towards the basket and fired a one-handed bounce bass between Deandre Ayton’s legs that led his big man to the hoop.

Goggle vision?

Blinders?

I don’t know the backstory behind Murray’s celebration as he ran back up the floor but it worked.

The dime resulted in Jokic’s 11 dunk of the season. It was a fitting exclamation point to a memorable night for the Nuggets’ young point guard.

Behind Murray’s 36 points the Nuggets beat the Suns 117-108. Phoenix got out to a 37-28 lead after shooting 13-21 from the field in the first quarter but Denver never lost touch. The Nuggets responded by outscoring the Suns 27-17 in the second and controlled the rest of the game for their 17th road victory of the season, just three fewer than Denver had all of last year.

To the grades.

Honor Roll

Jamal Murray – A

Murray has looked refreshed, recharged, refocused and re-energized since returning from his latest ankle injury. He tallied a game-high 36 points in Phoenix, a place where he’s historically scored well (Murray scored 28 points on 12-19 shooting there earlier this year and had 46 in the desert last season) to go with five rebounds, five assists but also five turnovers. In his first three games back games following the 10-game absence, Murray is shooting 32-52 (61.5%) from the floor and 13-23 (56.5%) from 3-point range. He’s been ultra-efficient.

But there’s something different about how Murray has played since he’s returned. After his first game back against Portland last Tuesday, Murray said that he felt he benefited from watching from the sidelines and noted that aspects of how the Nuggets play, from their half-court pace to the looks Denver gets in transition, jumped out to him more when he wasn’t playing. Murray also said he watched a lot of film while out of the lineup and focused in on how his teammates move and where the ball should go within the Nuggets’ offense.

It’s resulted in version of Murray that’s taking what the defense gives him. Murray’s not forcing anything and playing with loads of confidence right now. It’s been fun to watch.

Nikola Jokic – A

Jokic didn’t possess the shooting touch that he’s carried throughout the last couple of months in Phoenix but still tallied 19 points along with nine rebounds. Like Murray, he turned the ball over too much — Jokic had six giveaways — but still registered six assists. He shot 9 of 19 from the field, 0-3 from 3-point range and seven of his nine field goals came from within seven feet. He still controlled most aspects of the game.

Torrey Craig – A

Devin Booker must have nightmares before he goes up against the Craig-Gary Harris contingent. Denver has held Booker to an average of just 15.5 points on 30.6% shooting across four matchups this season and Saturday was no different as Booker scored 21 points but shot just 5 of 16 from the field. After the win Michael Malone called Torrey Craig an “All-NBA defender.” He’s been superb on that end of the floor all season. Craig also knocked in three of his five attempts from 3-point range.

Paul Millsap – A

Millsap returned to the Nuggets’ lineup after missing a little over a month with a knee injury and fit right in. He finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and four assists off the bench but will likely move into the starting lineup once he begins to play more minutes. Millsap logged 18 minutes Saturday, an expected amount considering his long layoff. As I’ve mentioned a few times on Twitter over the last several weeks, the Nuggets will need his defense over the final couple months of the season and into the playoffs.

The Class

Monte Morris – B+

Morris finished with 11 points and five assists to just one turnover. It was a steady effort from Denver’s backup point guard who continues to play his best basketball of the season.

Gary Harris – B

Harris’ offense still isn’t there. He shot only 4 of 11 from the field and 0-3 from distance (Harris has missed his last 10 triples) but contributed to Denver’s suffocating defense on Booker. Harris also picked up two steals, one of which was a vintage Harris poke-away where the shooting guard shadowed Booker as he went around an Ayton hand-off, tracked down the loose ball past half-court and turned his takeaway into two points. Speaking with people within organization over the last couple of days, it’s clear the Nuggets are still believers in Harris and that his offense will turn around. At the very least Denver will need him to hit open shots in the playoffs.

Jerami Grant – B

Grant had a solid night, chipping in 10 points to go with two rebounds and two steals in 30 minutes. Here’s something to watch and keep an eye out for with the Nuggets’ frontcourt rotation: will Denver try and play four bigs again when Mason Plumlee gets healthy? The Nuggets have found some success with Grant as a small ball five as of late with Plumlee sidelined and you’d think Plumlee will be slated for automatic minutes upon his return. But against certain matchups the better play would seem to be a smaller look on the Nuggets’ second unit with Grant at center. The likely choice I suppose would be for Denver to revert back to the Grant-Plumlee frontcourt on its bench unit, but the Nuggets have a pour -5.6 Net Rating with those two on the floor together this season.

P.J Dozier – B

It wasn’t a great offensive night from Dozier, who finished with two points on 1 of 5 shooting but he also registered two blocks. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from Dozier’s outing was his minutes. Post-trade deadline, Dozier appears to be firmly entrenched in Denver’s rotation and logged 14 minutes in the win. Twelve of those came alongside Morris. With Malik Beasley in Minnesota look for that backcourt duo to potentially soak up the majority of second unit guard minutes with Jordan McRae providing spot shooting behind those two if Denver’s offense is struggling.

Keita Bates-Diop – B

Here’s my early read on Bates-Diop. He’s a glue guy and someone who doesn’t score, rebound or play-make at an elite level, but does a little bit of everything. And he helps you win. Bates-Diop will be able to soak up minutes at both forward spots for the Nuggets if they need him to but with Michael Porter Jr. getting close to a return, I’d be surprised if he’s playing regular night-to-night minutes when Denver’s fully healthy. He scored four points in his first 14 minutes in a Nuggets uniform.