Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are back to being one of the NBA's best duos

The Nuggets’ late-game offense against the Chicago Bulls wasn’t complicated. It wasn’t an intricate scheme featuring excess ball and player movement, screens, cuts and half-court chicanery. Denver wasn’t tricking anyone with what it was running down the stretch.

Jamal Murray even tipped Zach LaVine off to where the ball was going as the Nuggets and Bulls went the distance Monday.

It didn’t matter.

Nikola Jokic kept scoring and scoring.

“We just kept running the same play honestly. I ain’t going to lie to you,” Murray said. “We ran the same play over and over…I was trying to tell Zach [LaVine], ‘You need some help. You need some help. He’s going to score.’ He said, ‘I’m not leaving you, Jamal!’ So I said, ‘Alright, bet!'”

Jokic scored 17 of the Nuggets’ 29 fourth-quarter points, carrying Denver to a 118-112 win. He finished with game-high 39 points to go with 14 rebounds, nine assists, one steal, and two blocks and did all of his work from inside the arc. Jokic went 0-3 from three-point range and shot an uncharacteristic 6-12 from the restricted area but converted 11 of his 13 attempts from the paint (non-RA) and mid-range.

It was a classic fourth-quarter takeover from Jokic, who this season is now shooting 27-53 (50.9%) in the “clutch,” when the score is within five points with five minutes or less remaining. Jokic’s 57.9 clutch True Shooting Percentage is the fourth-best mark in the NBA behind Collin Sexton, Kyrie Irving and LeBron James.

“We were sloppy I think. I just wanted to be aggressive just to change the rhythm,” Jokic said about his fourth-quarter mindset. “And I think I did. I think that happened.”

Jokic had some help Monday. The calendar flipped from February to March but Murray continued his consistent run of scoring which started nearly three weeks ago. Murray chipped in 24 points on 8-14 shooting from the field and 4-8 from three. It was his 10th-straight 20+ point scoring game. Murray’s previous longest streak of 20+ point games in the regular season was six. For nine minutes Monday, Murray also captained a bench unit that featured PJ Dozier, Zeke Nnaji, Vlatko Cancar, and Isaiah Hartenstein. Denver somehow managed to play Chicago even with Murray and those four reserves on the floor.

Murray tallied eight points in the fourth and sunk two triples, one of which came on a fastbreak where he turned down an open path to the rim. Instead, Murray stopped on a dime and launched from beyond the arc.

What exactly inspired this gutsy attempt? Was Murray thinking back to the Nuggets’ home loss to the Wizards two games ago where he shouldered the blame for not shooting a pull-up three on Denver’s final possession with the game on the line? Or was it more evidence of the confidence that Murray’s brimming with right now?

“I was just open,” Murray said of the shot. “Every time I’m open I’m going to shoot it.”

During last season’s playoffs (19 games), Murray averaged 26.5 points on 50.5% shooting from the field and 45.3% from three. Over Denver’s last 10 games, Murray’s scoring better and more efficiently than he did in the bubble. Murray’s averaging 29.5 points throughout his last 10 games and is shooting 55.3% from the field and exactly 50% from three on a monster nine attempts per game. Murray averaged 7.2 three-point attempts per game during last year’s postseason run.

“Jamal’s a star,” Michael Porter Jr. said. “We expect that from him.”

It’s not just the numbers Murray’s putting up. It’s how he looks when he’s doing it. Other than his four turnovers, everything Murray did Monday was smooth. His step-backs were fluid and sound. His drives to the rim were direct and determined. When Murray pulled up from three against the Bulls, he was decisive and committed. He’s no longer overthinking which shots he’s taking and which ones he’s passing up, something Murray believes hurt his play earlier this year.

On the season, Murray’s shooting 41.3% on pull-up threes. He’s one of just eight players who’s shooting better than 40% on at least 3.5 pull-up three-point attempts per game.

 “I feel like I can come down, pull up and score every time. Honestly,” Murray said. “I’m in a groove I guess.”

With his inconsistent start to the season firmly in the rearview mirror, Jokic and Murray are ready to retake their place as one of the NBA’s best two-man duos. One’s having a historical offensive season and is on pace to become the first player in NBA history to average 25 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists while shooting 55% or better from the floor. Jokic’s command of the Nuggets’ offense continues to be at an all-time high. He has 34 assists over his last four games to just two turnovers.

Jokic is a reincarnated Larry Bird who plays with the selflessness and humility of Tim Duncan.

“Tim Duncan was a world champion and he was probably the most humble guy that you ever saw,” Malone said. “Nikola carries himself in the same light.”

The other right now is the most efficient scorers in the league. Murray has a 70.5 TS% over his last 10 games, which leads the NBA over that span.

With Porter, who chipped in 17 points and a career-high 15 rebounds against Chicago, rounding into more of a complete player, the Nuggets feel like they’re carrying some real momentum for one of the few times all season. Denver’s trending up and has won seven of its last 11. The Nuggets’ Big 3 is also building chemistry with every minute they spend on the floor.

Partly due to injuries to Dozier, Gary Harris, Paul Millsap and JaMychal Green, the Jokic-Murray-Porter trio has played an average of 26 minutes per game together over the Nuggets’ last four games. That’s up from the 15.6 minutes per game that the three averaged together over the first 18 games this season that they all appeared in.

Denver is outscoring its opponent by 18 points per 100 possessions (124 Offensive Rating, 106 Defensive Rating) when Jokic, Murray and Porter are all on the court this year. The Jokic-Murray-Porter three-man combination currently holds the third-best Net Rating and fourth-best Offensive Rating in the league out of three-player lineups that have logged at least 350 minutes.

Monday’s performance against a mediocre Bulls team wasn’t the dominant wire-to-wire performance that Denver had hoped for, but it allowed the Nuggets’ new-found momentum to continue. A win over Milwaukee Tuesday and another victory in Indiana later this week would close out an erratic first-half of the regular season on a new high.