Kings of the Clutch: Inside Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic’s late-game mindset

MIAMI — Jamal Murray surveyed the defense a step inside the midcourt line with less than 10 seconds on the clock in familiar territory. Nuggets coach Michael Malone had put the ball in his young point guard’s hands again, looking for the game-winner. Murray was glad he did.

“I always want the ball. I’ve always wanted the ball to score, to shoot that shot. I wasn’t going to force it obviously,” Murray said. “Joker had a better angle, and he had it going a little bit, so I thought that pass was there and we had gone to that pass late game. But I always want the ball.”

Murray let go a perfectly placed bounce pass to Nikola Jokic, who came rumbling down the lane after setting a screen for his point guard out at the three-point line. Jokic gathered himself, took two steps towards the basket, absorbed contact from Bam Adebayo and let go a five-foot floater that hit nothing but net to push the Nuggets to a come-from-behind 103-99 win.

“I tried to go a little bit lower just to not give them an extra shot,” Jokic said. “I think I was setting the screen with around seven or eight (seconds remaining), that was the right time. Even if you don’t have a shot, to get something else. I set a screen, I heard them saying, ‘Back, back, back.’ So I kind of switched the screen so I’m going to be under (Josh Richardson). So I set the screen a little bit flatter so when they switch, I’m going to be lower than him.”

“That’s my kind of shot. I love floaters. Any kind of floater. I love them.”

Jokic and Murray teamed up on Denver’s game-winning play in Miami like they have time and time again this season. The two-man game between the Nuggets’ point guard and franchise center has become Denver’s bread and butter.

“Whether I’m hitting and I’m screening or he’s screening me, we just have a really good feel, said Murray, who finished with 18 points, four rebound and six assists. “We just read and react and kind of have an understanding of what we’re looking for.”

The Nuggets used their end-of-game pet play to win another close game, this time over the Heat who they battled back and forth with for four quarters on the second night of a back to back where Denver didn’t arrive in Miami from Houston until early Tuesday morning.

That fatigue was evident throughout most of the Nuggets’ 27th win of the season, but not on the game’s deciding possession.

“I’ve always had that late-game mentality,” said Murray. “I’ve always wanted it. Growing up competing, I’ve always grown up being challenged, whether it’s in basketball or in life. I’ve always wanted to make those big moments and test myself and I look forward to it. I’m not thinking about missing at that point. I’m all in. I’ll take whatever comes with it. But those moments I live for.”

“It’s definitely a growing experience in terms of being in the league, late-game,” Murray added. “Being a rookie, you’re anxious for the ball but you know you might not get it, and now I’m having the ball and I’ve got to make the right decision, whether it’s a pass, a score, keeping my dribble alive, look at the mismatch, taking the last shot, shot clocks going down, how many timeouts we have. All that stuff I’ve got to think about. It all comes down to making the right decision.”

Murray has made a lot of right decisions late in games this season, particularly since Dec. 1. Since that date, Murray (+48) and Jokic (+46) have the best two plus-minuses in the league when the margin is within five points with five minutes or less remaining. Denver is 10-1 in clutch games since the beginning of December too, relying mostly on Jokic and Murray. Murray has just three turnovers in 42 clutch minutes since Dec. 1. Jokic, who recorded his fourth triple-double of the season in Miami and finished with 29 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, is shooting 13-22 (59.1 percent) from the field in the clutch over that stretch.

“We’ve been really good in close games because of their ability to close out games,” said Malone. “So I have a lot of confidence in those two.”

Denver needed a total team effort to win its third game in four nights. Torrey Craig put on his best Dennis Rodman impression and hauled in a game-high 16 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive glass. Trey Lyles rebounded from a couple underwhelming performances to finish with 15 points on a clean 6-8 shooting. Malik Beasley stepped into the starting lineup for the injured Gary Harris and held his own, finishing with nine points in 36 minutes of action.

But in winning time, Denver’s two kings of the clutch stepped up and went to an action they’ve perfected over the course of their three years of playing alongside one another.

“That,” Murray said, “is our specialty.”