"I’m just going to play free": An honest Jamal Murray turns a new page

There was just something different about Jamal Murray when he walked out for his pregame warmup Monday night. Murray strutted out of Denver’s locker room and onto the Ball Arena hardwood rapping along to whatever he was listening to through his candy red Beats headphones. He jokingly — but also somewhat seriously — yelled up to the Nuggets’ in-arena DJ “Paws the Music” who was stationed at the top of the lower bowl and questioned why there wasn’t any music playing on the arena’s sound system.

He then started cracking jokes with Michael Porter Jr., who shares the same warmup time as Murray. With Porter looking on, Murray jogged to half-court and reenacted the patented pull-up transition three that Porter seems to launch at least once per game. You know, the one where everyone watching knows for certain that Porter’s shooting it as soon as he approaches the top of the arc.

It was far from the typical Murray shooting session. Murray’s usually stoic and restrained during his warmup and meticulously advances from one shooting drill to the next. He didn’t this time.

His new pregame routine and mindset were by design. Murray got back to the basics Monday after an underwhelming opening two games following the All-Star break where he shot a combined 5-27 from the floor for just 13 points. It was a surprising development after Murray rattled off 12-straight games of 20+ points prior to the break.

But in a transparent moment late Monday night when speaking with the media following the Nuggets’ 121-106 win over the Pacers, Murray admitted that he didn’t touch a basketball for the entire five-day break and his two-game slide was because he was rusty.

“I didn’t touch the ball for the break. Mentally, I just didn’t want to touch the ball for the break. And I came back the first two games and I wasn’t ready to play, and I just had to get my groove back,” Murray said. “I changed up my routine today. I just said I needed to change something. And I got treatment later. I lifted a little early. I was on time for (pregame) shooting this time. Good mood. Took off my Beats and was joking around with everybody.”

“Just trying to switch it up. Switch the energy within myself and stop thinking about missing or making. Just go out there and play basketball like I’ve known how to play for 23 years now.”

Murray was far from perfect against the Pacers. He was loose in the build-up to Monday’s game — perhaps too loose. Murray had an awful turnover on a failed behind-the-back pass through traffic midway through the first quarter that led to a Justin Holiday three. He then took himself out of the play on a Pacers possessions by unnecessarily lunging for a steal near half-court. Moments later, Doug McDermott nailed an open corner triple. Malcolm Brogdon drove right by Murray like he was a traffic cone on a number of Pacers possessions too.

But when the buzzer sounded, Murray had tallied 16 points (6-13 shooting, 3-5 from three), 6 rebounds and 8 assists. It wasn’t close to an A-level game from Murray, but a momentum builder nonetheless.

“I definitely feel like I needed the break because we haven’t had a long one. But I just felt I really didn’t need to do anything, and it showed,” Murray said of his low-key All-Star break. “I’m not going to lie to your guys, it showed.”

“The work shows. I took five days off and it showed. Now I feel like I’m back in a good groove and just back to playing basketball.”

Murray said he needed a mental break after a frenetic first half of the regular season that came two months after an emotional and taxing playoff run. He was worn out. Yes, Murray’s making $27.2 million this season, which surely eases some of the stress that this pandemic-filled calendar year heaped on us all. But three COVID tests per day and an isolated lifestyle at home and on the road due to the NBA’s health and safety guidelines will wear on you no matter your yearly salary. The constant noise on social media was getting to him too.

“Every day you go to work. You’re professional. You show up. You lock-in. You go on the court and you get judged by millions and millions of people that are fans and not fans and all that stuff. And I feel like sometimes that affects us as players,” Murray said. “It’s a lot on your mental to deal with that every day. Doubters, haters, not playing well to playing well, to good shot to bad shot. And after all that you just go in the game, you just say, ‘I’m just going to play. I’m just going to play free.’”

It was an incredibly honest moment from Murray. Here’s an All-Star talent openly discussing how he’s impacted by cynics and detractors. Most NBA players wouldn’t dare concede that random Twitter eggs can float in and out of their consciousness.

Murray didn’t have to do much heavy lifting on the offensive end of the floor Monday. Despite a strong defensive effort from Myles Turner, Nikola Jokic turned in another MVP performance and finished with a game-high 32 points, 11 of which came in the fourth quarter, 14 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. He’s the only NBA player to post that stat line this season. Jokic also recorded his 227th career double-double in the win, tying Dikembe Mutombo for the most double-doubles in franchise history.

“That’s nice,” Jokic told Altitude TV postgame of the double-double company he’s in. “I got goosebumps. That’s really cool.”

Michael Porter Jr. added 20 points. So did Will Barton, who finished in double-figure scoring for a seventh-straight game. Barton’s averaging 17.6 points per game over this seven-game stretch (50% shooting from the field, 51.2% from three), 5.3 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game.

JaMychal Green finished with 16 points, converted four of his six three-point attempts, and looks fully recovered from a shoulder sprain that recently kept him sidelined for around a month. Green can shoot the heck out of the ball, but his selfless, pedal-to-the-floor approach also makes him a smooth fit around Denver’s core.

“He’s one of those guys who plays the right way on both ends,” Barton said of Green. “Plays with so much energy…He does all the little things and he’s always playing for the team.”

The Nuggets’ win over the Pacers was a bit symbolic of Denver’s season so far. For one quarter — like Monday’s fourth — the Nuggets looked unbeatable. Denver outscored Indiana 34-15 over the final 12 minutes of regulation and a bench lineup featuring Barton, Porter, Facu Campazzo, PJ Dozier and Paul Millsap held the Pacers to only two points over the first seven minutes of the fourth. It was an inspiring, game-changing spurt led by Campazzo to spring the Nuggets to a 23-16 record and the fifth seed in the West.

For other stretches, Denver looked average. The Nuggets were sloppy with the ball and casually jogged back in transition when they turned it over. The Pacers shot 7-11 from three in a third quarter where they outscored the Nuggets 35-22 and took control of the game until Denver’s second unit stole it back.

Murray may have pilfered his game back too with a temporary change to his pregame routine. With his game and his head in a positive place, the Nuggets can continue to climb the Western Conference standings.

“Tomorrow I’ll get back to my routine and lock back in,” Murray said. “But sometimes you just need to switch something up to break the cycle of your thinking.”