Jamal Murray opens up about playing the villain

LOS ANGELES — Trash talk is a part of the game of basketball that Jamal Murray knows well. He grew up watching Kobe Bryant torment opponents on the same floor where his team fell 112-103 to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. The confident 21-year-old isn’t afraid to participate in a war of words if he feels he can gain an advantage.

After boos and “Murray sucks” chants reigned down on the point guard from pregame player introductions through the final buzzer, Murray was adamant that the raucous environment at Staples Center didn’t affect his play. It was the second meeting between the two sides in just five days, and the trash talk that both players and coaches exchanged in at the conclusion of Friday’s game carried over to Tuesday night.

“I don’t let people get under my skin. I just always play the game,” Murray said. “I’m used to trash talking. I used to watch Kobe, you know in this very arena play, play with Luke Walton, you know. So I see where Luke got it from. But I love playing with that competitiveness. I’m sure the fans enjoyed it. I’m sure the NBA enjoyed it. And that’s how I like to play the game.”

Walton lobbed obscenities at Murray as he was pushed back toward his huddle by an official late in the fourth quarter of Denver’s 125-116 win over Los Angeles on Friday. Walton called Murray’s antics “embarrassing.” Four days later, there was more trash talk from both sides after one momentum-turning basket after another.

“Jamal Murray, all the noise was about him, and I thought he played great,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “Here’s a young kid, second-year player coming into a hostile environment, who I think was the best point guard on the floor.”

Murray finished with 18 points on 5-11 shooting, six rebounds and seven assists. Lonzo Ball had a quiet night offensively but finished a team-best plus-18 in 41 minutes. Ball tallied five points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

The title of “best point guard on the floor” Tuesday might have gone to Isaiah Thomas, who scored 23 points off Los Angeles’ bench and hit four of his nine three-point attempts.

As the Lakers ran out the clock in the fourth quarter, Thomas was called for a 24-second violation with 2.5 seconds remaining and chucked a cross-court chest pass in Murray’s direction.

Thomas’ final act of showmanship put a ceremonial end to the team’s four-game season series that they split 2-2.

“It was a fun game,” Murray said. “They’re going to do what they do. I’m just going to do what I do. We lost today, it was unfortunate. We really wanted to win.”

“I’m used to it, man. I go out there and play hard they going to act like how they going to act like they did today to end the game. I’m just going to move on and forget about it,” Murray added alluding to Julius Randle’s hard foul with under a minute remaining in regulation.

Denver staved off a hostile environment and a 13-point first-quarter deficit to trail by one point at halftime. The Nuggets led by as many as 13 points with 2:21 remaining in the third quarter, but the Lakers outscored Denver 45-23 throughout the rest of the game.

Someone who wasn’t impressed by the crowd and the Laker fanbase? Nikola Jokic, who said the noise paled in comparison to when he played against Crvena Zvezda (Red Star) in Belgrade, Serbia.

“Not even close,” Jokic said.