Never doubt the Denver Nuggets.
And never doubt Jamal Murray.
Murray was ice-cold three quarters into the Nuggets’ Game 2 matchup against the Lakers. He couldn’t hit anything. Murray had 6 points on 3-16 shooting in his first 28 minutes Monday night. He also looked off rhythm, hesitant, and not himself.
It wasn’t the ‘Playoff Murray’ that we’ve come to expect around these parts.
But then, the fourth quarter hit, and Murray woke up.
With the score tied at 99, the greatest playoff riser in NBA history hit this jumper from the right wing over Anthony Davis to steal a Nuggets win.
“I jumped pretty high, I faded a lot and just lost my balance and fell,” Murray said. “I just saw the ball over the rim, I think AD was in my way or somebody was in my way. I just heard everybody scream and that’s when I knew it went in. So that was a pretty cool moment.”
Murray caught fire in the fourth quarter to put the finishing touches on a 20-point Nuggets second-half comeback. He scored 14 of his 20 points in a fourth quarter where the Nuggets outscored the Lakers 32-20.
“For those that have been following us for a long time, that’s Jamal Murray right there,” Michael Malone said. “He can struggle, he can struggle, he can struggle, but if he sees one go in. He’s never shying away from the moment, the spotlight.”
It was the stuff of legends.
When you think back to this Nuggets playoff run however it turns out, this Murray shot will be a core memory. It’s the ‘Hail Murray’ as we’re calling it and a dagger into the hearts of the Lakers who outplayed the Nuggets for the majority of Game 2.
Something else we’ll remember from this magical win? Nikola Jokic’s game.
With Murray providing little offensive support through three quarters, it was of course Jokic who did the heavy lifting for the Nuggets. He finished with 27 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists. He’s the only player with a 25 + point, 20+ rebound, 10+ assist game since the NBA/ABA merger in 1976.
And Jokic has done it four times.
He was incredible and never let up even when a win seemed impossible. That’s part of the DNA of this team.
“We’re a championship team, we’re the reigning champs. We might get down 20 points but we’re not going to roll over,” Malone said. “That’s not who we are, that’s not who I am, and that’s never been a part of Denver Nugget basketball in these last nine years.”
This was also a true team win. Aaron Gordon guarded LeBron James throughout most of the first half and held him in check. Anthony Davis shot a blistering 11-12 from the floor for 24 first-half points, then Gordon switched onto him after halftime. Davis’ last basket of the game came at the 7:15 mark of the third quarter.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope chipped in defensively. The Nuggets’ bench outscored the Lakers’ bench when Jokic was off the floor. Michael Porter Jr., who swished six 3-pointers in the win and was the only Nugget other than Jokic to hit a 3 in Game 2, made the second-biggest shot of the night off a broken play late in the fourth.
The Nuggets should not have won this game. Overall, Denver shot 8-34 (23.5%) from beyond the arc. The Nuggets played about as bad of a first half as they have in the playoffs in the Jokic era.
But they won. They found a way.
That’s what special teams do.
