Murray's Law: Blue Arrow shoots Nuggets past Pistons as Denver collects 50th win

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That was Michael Malone’s message to Jamal Murray after his starting point guard had suffered through one of his worst shooting slumps of the season over Denver’s last six games, where the 22-year-old hit just six of 20 triples.

Nothing like a little home cooking to cure a cold spell.

After a 124-88 drubbing at the hands of the Indiana Pacers on Sunday, Denver returned home to edge the Pistons 95-92 behind 31 points from Murray, who had one of his better shooting performances of the last few months.

After a slow first quarter, Murray found his target in the second, scoring 18 points in the period as the Nuggets took a 66-39 lead into the break. His 31 points is his highest point total since scoring 36 against the Kings back on Jan. 3.

The Nuggets led by 19 points to begin the fourth but the Pistons cut the Nuggets’ lead to nine points with under five minutes remaining in regulation and then just five with two minutes left on the clock. The Nuggets’ lead was then trimmed to three on a Wayne Ellington three with a minute remaining and then two on an Andre Drummond dunk.

Murray’s runner from the baseline put Denver back up by four, just enough to squeak out a win. Denver went up by three after a pair of Murray free throws with 9.1 seconds remaining. Blake Griffin’s three at the buzzer was off.

Elsewhere for Denver, Nikola Jokic added 23 points and 15 rebounds. Paul Millsap added 10 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.

The Pistons dug themselves a hole in the first quarter by missing their first 10 shots from the field and trailed 27-9 after 12 minutes.

With the win, Denver’s 50th of the season, the Nuggets move four games up on the Rockets for the second seed in the West with nine games remaining. The Nuggets now embark on an important two-game road trip to Houston on Thursday and at Oklahoma City Friday.