Golden Nuggets: Jamal Murray wasn't shooting into a basket; he was shooting into an ocean

Five nuggets for the five triples Jamal Murray hit in a 115-107 win over the Boston Celtics on Monday night at Pepsi Center.

1. The imaginary arrow Jamal Murray fired following his final 3-point make of the night must have traveled 1,000 miles. With 6:49 to go in Monday’s thriller, Murray decided to pull up from behind the arc instead of snaking around Nikola Jokic’s screen. Murray was scalding by that point, and Marcus Smart gave him room to launch. Why not?

The shot gave Murray his 36th, 37th and 38th points, pushed Denver’s lead to eight and forced Celtics coach Brad Stevens to call a timeout. Murray celebrated by running to half court and unleashing an arrow that landed somewhere in the Nevada desert. Murray went on to score 48 points in all — the most by a Nuggets player since Carmelo Anthony gave the Houston Rockets a 50 piece in 2011.

“He was shooting into a big basket the whole night,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “Even when they turned up the pressure, he found ways to get to the rim. He hit some incredibly difficult shots. He was in the zone tonight.”

Saying Murray caught fire doesn’t do his performance justice. He made 19 of the 30 shots he attempted. He went 5 for 11 from 3. He scored 19 points in the fourth quarter alone. No, Murray didn’t catch fire. It was more like he happened upon one of the Invincibility Stars from Mario Kart in the tunnel before the game, and it never ran out.

Murray connected on spot-up 3s and pull-up 3s, scoops and step-back 16 footers. He even mixed in some twisting layups that looked like the ones Kyrie Irving routinely pulls off. Murray had everything working, and the Celtics, who came into the game ranked first in defensive rating, were helpless to stop him.

“We know Jamal can get hot,” Gary Harris said. “He was in one of those zones today. The basket looked like the ocean.”

2. Murray just couldn’t help himself. The allure of cracking the 50-point barrier was too tempting to pass up. His team had the game in the bag. He could’ve dribbled out the clock. He couldn’t resist, though.

It was clear right away the Celtics were miffed, and they were still steaming in the locker room afterward. Irving called it a “bullshit move.” Jaylen Brown called it “disrespectful.”

Murray has a talent for antagonizing opponents. Remember last year when he dribbled the basketball around Lonzo Ball when time was running out?

“Everyone knew I was just trying to go for 50,” Murray said. “That was the problem. I mean no disrespect. Like I said, my emotions just took over like they did against the Lakers last year. I really kind of lose myself sometimes.”

Malone understood why Murray got trigger happy, but he was not a fan of the last-second heave either.

“He’s just got to learn, and we talked about it, not taking that last shot,” Malone said. “But he’s young. He’s still learning. You never want to try and disrespect anybody. I think it wasn’t disrespect. He was trying to get 50 points, which you understand. But our veterans talked to him. It’s something he’ll learn from.”

Murray is a confident basketball player. That serves him well for the most part. He was fearless down the stretch of Denver’s do-or-die game in Minnesota last season. But there are times when it lands him in trouble. Circle March 18 on your calendar. It’s when the Nuggets make their lone trip of the season to Boston.

3. The 3 at the buzzer might have been a sign of immaturity, but give Murray this: Narrowly missing out on the postseason two years in a row has given him perspective.

“I’ve been here for two years, and both years we’ve missed the playoffs by one game,” Murray said. “Now we’re taking every game like it was the Minnesota game. I think we talked about it before training camp. Everybody has that feeling that if we lose one game now it’s going to come back to haunt us at the end of the year.”

The overtime loss to the Timberwolves in game 82 might have been a blessing in disguise. It forced the Nuggets to look in the mirror, and they’ve come back a tougher and more focused team.

The Nuggets could’ve easily rolled over Monday, but they didn’t. The Celtics came out hot and built an 18-point lead. Denver got back into it by hunkering down on the defensive end and taking better care of the ball. The Nuggets won despite Irving going nuts and Nikola Jokic attempting only three shots. It’s impossible to imagine that happening a year ago.

4. The Nuggets are 9-1. They’re off to their best start to a season since 1976-77. Yet you wouldn’t think everything’s sunshine and rainbows by listening to Malone’s post-game remarks.

“It’s game number 10 for us,” Malone said. “Yeah, sure, people may be taking notice of the great start, the fact that we’re actually playing defense for a change in Denver. But we’re not worried about what people think about us. We’ve just got to do our jobs every day and find a way to get better.”

Malone is fiery as far as NBA coaches go, so his muted rhetoric in the early going has stood out. He’s focused on the long game. So far, he’s pressing the right buttons. The Nuggets have the NBA’s third-best net rating. They’re ranked third in defensive efficiency, a development nobody besides Paul Millsap saw coming. The Nuggets run 3-point shooters off the line now; they make multiple efforts; they devote so much more energy to getting stops than they used to.

“Better. A lot better, for sure,” Harris said when asked about the defensive improvement. “It’s been an emphasis. We gave up a high percentage of 3s last year. We’re just trying to give second efforts and rely on our teammates to help us out.”

5. Not even three minutes had gone by in Monday’s game when Malone decided he needed to make a change. The Nuggets looked lifeless out of the gates, so Malone responded by subbing Juancho Hernangomez in for Torrey Craig. Hernangomez helped Denver chip away at Boston’s lead, and Hernangomez started at small forward after halftime.

Craig logged only 2 minutes and 44 seconds. He missed the only shot he took. Hernangomez scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds in 24 minutes. He buried a pair of 3s in the third quarter.

“We could not score the ball to start the game,” Malone said. “Literally two minutes into the game, I subbed Torrey out and Juancho in just to give us some spacing. Juancho has been shooting the ball well. He’s someone that they have to guard. I decided to start the third quarter with that same unit just to give us a better chance to score.”

Is it possible we see Hernangomez in the starting lineup moving forward? Craig is 3 for 19 from 3 this season. He’s made only three shots outside of 5 feet in 165 minutes. Putting Hernangomez next to Murray, Harris, Millsap and Jokic would help space the floor. Hernangomez is shooting 46.2 percent on 3s this season.

Denver is 7-1 with Craig as a starter, but Monday could’ve been a tipping point.