Inside Jamal Murray's latest playoff explosion: "That kid is a warrior"

You either have it or you don’t. You can’t learn it. It cannot be taught. It’s immeasurable and impossible to quantify.

There’s something that’s incredibly calming about watching Jamal Murray operate in the highest-leverage moments that the NBA has to offer where he time and time again displays the incalculable intangibles that set him apart from so many of his peers. In the ultimate-stress situations where so many players shrink from the spotlight and fail, Murray time and time again steps up and succeeds. And he does so with a poised and steady mind and a composed, confident, and certain style of play that continually leaves you in awe.

“When the stage is at its biggest, Jamal seems to step up and perform,” Michael Malone said after the Nuggets’ 122-113 Game 2 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. “It speaks to his mental toughness, his preparation, his physical toughness, and not being afraid of the moment.”

If you were lucky enough to be in attendance Wednesday night at Ball Arena, you witnessed a vintage Murray postseason performance. It was another playoff classic from the 26-year-old who’s earning a reputation as one of the NBA’s great postseason acts.

40 points on 13-22 shooting, (6-10 from 3-point range), 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals in 39 minutes.

It was Murray’s fifth-career 40-point game in the playoffs. He now has the most 40-point games in Nuggets playoff history.

“Honestly, he lives for the playoffs,” Michael Porter Jr. said. “He lives for moments like these.”

What’s at stake for Jamal Murray in this postseason?

He can change his reputation forever – both in and outside of Denver. #MileHighBasketball

📺 https://t.co/GxOJG97Tmh pic.twitter.com/1vZI3nxrZQ

— DNVR Nuggets (@DNVR_Nuggets) April 15, 2023

Murray’s night was fairly consistent. He erupted for 14 points in the first quarter, capitalizing on a Timberwolves’ starting lineup change that swapped Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who defended Murray well in Game 1, for veteran Taurean Prince. Murray then went quiet with only four points in the second before tallying 12 in the third. Murray hit double-digits again in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 points in the period and eight of the Nuggets’ final 14 points of regulation.

Step-back triples, pull-up jumpers, ISO fadeaway daggers. It was the full Murray repertoire and featured some incredible shot-making.

The Nuggets needed Murray’s 40-piece. Anthony Edwards, who went off for 41 points of his own Wednesday, kept the Timberwolves in Game 2. Minnesota outscored Denver 40-23 in the third quarter to erase the Nuggets’ 20-point first-half lead, but Murray and the Nuggets proved in the fourth that they were just the better side.

By the time the final buzzer sounded, Murray was absolutely spent. Before he subbed out to a standing ovation with 11 seconds left on the clock, Murray stood at the foul line closest to the Nuggets’ bench during a break in the action with his hands on his knees. It looked like he was gasping for air.

“That kid is a warrior,” Malone said.

“He left a piece of him out there tonight.”

Murray knew heading into the playoffs that it would take him a minute — or maybe just one game — to find his real rhythm. In Game 1 and in Murray’s first playoff game in two years, the emotions were flowing. He was maybe too amped up and too excited. But entering Wednesday’s Game 2, Murray was more relaxed and composed. He felt more like his typical postseason self.

His teammates sense that Murray’s back and even better than ever. Earlier this week, Michel Porter Jr. said he believes that Murray is a better player now than he was before tearing his ACL at the end of the 2021 regular season. Following Game 2, Nikola Jokic echoed the same sentiment.

“I think he’s playing now better than in the bubble,” Jokic said. “Yes, he scored a lot more points in the bubble, or whatever, but I think his energy is much better. His leadership, his — not focus — just like being into the game, it’s at a much higher level I think now.”

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There’s another angle to Murray’s latest playoff banger — one that extends well beyond last night and will pave the way for the next chapter of his basketball story.

We all know that Murray is trying to get back to the player he was pre-ACL injury. We’ve had discussions all year about whether he’s back or not and what Murray being back actually looks like. Murray was asked by DNVR Wednesday if in Game 2 he felt anything similar to what he felt during the 2020 playoffs, in the bubble and in some of those games where he dropped 40, even 50 points.

“I don’t think the bubble and Jamal — we’re the same person — I’m not split,” Murray responded. “I’m kind of exhausted of hearing about that person like that’s not me. That was just the beginning in my opinion. I have to keep my mentality that way. If I keep looking back like you guys and think that was it, I’m not going to exceed that. I look at that as if that was the beginning. And I’m 26. I have a lot of career left, hopefully, god-willing. So I want to keep getting better, keep trending. That’s my mindset.”

Highest percentage of career playoff games scoring 40+ points, NBA history (minimum 30 games):

21.2% – Michael Jordan
14.3% – Jamal Murray, @nuggets pic.twitter.com/vDWpQUgujd

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) April 20, 2023

He later expounded on the Bubble Murray comparisons following Game 2.

“You can reference it for sure, but it’s not two different people. I’m working to get myself back to that level and better and beyond. I don’t want to listen to everybody thinking that that was it. There’s more to come. There’s better performances to come. There’s a better mentality. There’s a healthier body. There’s an offseason where I can train. There’s a lot of different factors. It’s a mentality for me. I have to say it. I have to be about it and I have to believe it. And hopefully, you guys believe it too.”

It was a profound response. Murray is done hearing about comparisons to the player he was in the 2020 playoffs. He knows he can get back to that level — Porter even said following Game 2 that the Murray he watched play on Wednesday was “exactly” like the Murray he watched in the bubble — and eventually exceed it. And he doesn’t want that playoff run to define him as a player, even though right now it of course does. He knows there’s more in the tank. He wants to ultimately rise to a higher level. The player he was in the bubble isn’t this mythical person. He’s right here. Jamal Murray is here.

“The bubble was just weird because there were no fans,” Porter said. “This is even more special.”

Murray is well on his way to firmly establishing himself as one of the best postseason performers in the NBA. He already has the second-highest percentage of career playoff games in NBA history where he scores 40+ points, trailing only Michael Jordan. He’s a prime-time player, an absolute killer in the clutch, and a force that you want to go to war behind. You can believe in Jamal Murray.

We’ll see what he has in store for an encore performance in Game 3 Friday in Minnesota. It feels like everything is on the table now, including the opportunity that Murray wants — the chance for him to break free from the bubble Murray comparisons for good.

What would then define Murray’s career going forward? Maybe it’s what’s about to happen in these playoffs.