“He has real confidence”: Damian Lillard sees a little bit of himself in Jamal Murray

Fourteen days and 16 feet were the difference between dejection and elation in the first postseason series of Jamal Murray’s career. In Denver’s first-round date against San Antonio, that was how much time went by between Game 1 and Game 7, and how much space separates the right elbow from the left elbow.

Go back to April 13: Murray clanged a potential go-ahead jumper off the back rim in the final seconds. Just like that, Denver surrendered home-court advantage just as it had dipped its toe in postseason play.

Now think back to Saturday: Game 7, Pepsi Center packed to the gills. With 37 seconds to go, Murray let fly a roof-scraping floater off one foot. It fell through, nothing but net, to ice the game and clinch Denver’s first playoff series win in a decade.

The most impressive part of Murray’s first playoff series was the mental resolve it took to bounce back. After getting embarrassed early by Spurs point guard Derrick White, Murray showed off the shotmaking ability and all-around offensive game that have led many to believe he’s bound for stardom. Murray could have cracked after White scored 36 points to his six in Game 3, which San Antonio won to take a 2-1 lead. Instead, it hardened him, refocused him to be the No. 2 option Denver needed to take the series.

• Murray in Games 1-3: 15.7 points (39.1% FG), 1.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.0 turnovers
• Murray in Games 4-7: 21.5 points (48.5% FG), 3.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.8 turnovers

Michael Malone’s decision to have Gary Harris guard White starting in Game 4 helped, to be sure. White looked like a different player with Harris, Denver’s best perimeter defender, shadowing him. But also crucial was Murray keeping the bigger picture in mind when it would’ve been easy to be myopic.

“No, I’m just worried about winning,” said Murray after Game 5 when asked if he’d taken the matchup against White personally. “I had a couple good games. I had a couple bad games. People can take it how they want. But we’re getting wins right now. We’re just focused. We’re focused on winning. We’re focused on getting up the court. We’re focused on guarding DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge without fouling. There’s more on our minds than that.”

The way Murray doubled down on the two-man game between him and Nikola Jokic and only seemed concerned about team success, not his own reputation, as the series wore on was a sign of maturity. He stayed confident in himself without trying to do too much — a tricky balance for a 22-year-old. Now his reward is a second-round series against Damian Lillard’s Trail Blazers.

Lillard, who sent Oklahoma City home with a shot for the ages in Round 1, was 23 when he made his postseason debut in 2014. It was a tricky thing, he said, playing on such a big stage so young. Still, he remained confident in what he could do — a quality he sees in Murray.

“I didn’t know how I was going to play, but I had real confidence,” Lillard said. “I went into it like regardless of what happens I know what kind of player I am. I know what I’m capable of. I think that’s the biggest thing with him: He has real confidence. He can miss 10 shots then come back and make the next 10. He can have a bad game for three quarters then come up big in one quarter.”

Murray and Lillard probably won’t spend much time matched up head to head. Expect Denver to rely on Harris and Torrey Craig to slow Portland’s two most dangerous perimeter threats, Lillard and C.J. McCollum. That was the plan from Game 4 on against San Antonio, and it worked.

But even if Denver hides Murray on Moe Harkless or another Trail Blazers wing, he’ll need to produce on the other end for his team to have a chance. The Nuggets go to a higher plane of existence when Murray plays well and look mortal when he struggles. That was the case in the regular season and has been in the postseason so far.

Murray is still wildly inconsistent, but give him this: When things aren’t going his way, he always recovers. Refocusing after the beating he took in Game 3 was no small feat. The Nuggets stayed alive because he was able to do so.

“I think that’s the best thing about him,” Lillard said. “His ability to stay strong mentally. That confidence. That true self-belief.”