Inside Jamal Murray’s mind as he stepped to the free-throw line with the season hanging in the balance

DENVER — Jamal Murray stepped to the free-throw line with 2.8 seconds remaining with just a few things at stake.

Another loss and Denver’s playoff hopes would take a near-fatal blow with just five regular-season games remaining. Missing the playoffs for a fifth consecutive year would surely bring changes of some kind to the Nuggets as currently constructed.

That’s a lot of pressure on a second-year point guard who just turned 21 in February.

But Murray stayed as cool as the other side of the pillow.

“What am I shooting from the line?” Murray asked when questioned if he felt the weight of Denver’s season on his shoulders. “No pressure. It’s my favorite shot in the history of basketball. I talk about meditation and being calm and composed and all of that. I couldn’t wait to go up to the line and hit them. So I did just that.”

Murray sunk all three free throws to tie the score at 111 and force overtime. Denver outscored Milwaukee 17-14 in the extra period to edge the Bucks 128-125 and keep pace in the Western Conference playoff race. The Nuggets trail the New Orleans Pelicans by just one game for the eighth and final playoff spot.

Murray’s free throws should never have had the chance to send the game to overtime. Leading by three points with 4.1 seconds remaining, Milwaukee was an inbound pass away from handing Denver its third loss in four games. A completed pass and ensuing foul would have likely ended the Nuggets’ night. But Murray picked off Khris Middleton’s toss, took one dribble with his left hand and fired up a wide-open look from around 23 feet. Hit shot clanged off the back of the iron, but Jason Terry was called for a foul.

“Jason Terry kind of gave it away,” Murray said about his steal. “He told me he was going to go up because we fouled the first time and the second time. I heard him say he’s going to go up, so I kind of like stayed on his high side and gave him the angle and was able to get in the passing lane.”

Once the officials reviewed the play and sent Murray to the line, the 90 percent free-throw shooter calmly converted.

“There was not a doubt in my mind when he went to the foul line that he was not going to make those three free throws,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “And I mean that sincerely.”

“He’s our best free-throw maker,” added Nikola Jokic, who paced Denver with a game-high 35 points. “I think he’s 95 percent or something like that. He loves the pressure.”

Indeed he does. Down 17 points with 6:50 remaining in regulation, the Nuggets and Murray never lost faith. It would have been easy for Denver to let up and hit the showers, especially with Jabari Parker tallying 35 points off Milwaukee’s bench and hitting from nearly every spot on the floor.

The Nuggets got back into the game possession by possession. Murray’s 16 fourth-quarter points and one steal stood out from the final box score, but Denver wouldn’t have been able to get to overtime in the first place if it wasn’t for Jokic’s nine points in the final 12 minutes of regulation. Paul Millsap, who said after the win that he couldn’t stand to watch Murray’s trio of free throws, hit two timely fourth-quarter buckets as well.

“Not him,” Millsap said when asked if there were nerves when Murray stepped to the line. “He shoots free throws too well. He’s 90-plus … I knew he was going to make them.”

Despite limping through a seven-game road trip where the Nuggets went 3-4, Denver’s confidence is at an all-time high. Paul Millsap, who’s now appeared in 17 games since missing more than three months after surgery on his left wrist, is playing his best basketball of the season.

Millsap, who finished with 26 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, and his frontcourt partner combined for 61 points, 26 rebounds and 10 assists. With Jokic and Millsap on the floor together over the last 17 games, Denver is outscoring its opponent by 74 points.

Add Murray’s 27 points to the mix and Denver’s offense, which struggled to execute at times Sunday without starters Gary Harris and Wilson Chandler, was able to score just enough points to squeak by Milwaukee.

“We can beat anybody,” a confident Murray proclaimed.

The free throw may seem like a forgotten art in today’s NBA where threes and poster dunks reign supreme on social media. But Murray works tirelessly on his free throws. With the game and the season on the line, he got to show off his craft.

“That,” Murray said, “is what you dream of.”