DENVER — The same night he lit up the Milwaukee Bucks for 26 points on 12 shots, Jamal Murray caught a flight to Los Angeles. The second-year guard was the Denver Nuggets’ lone representative at All-Star Weekend. He was slated to compete in the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday and the Skills Challenge on Saturday. While many of his teammates traveled to tropical paradises, Murray had a busy weekend of basketball ahead of him.
Murray shined alongside a talented group of first and second-year international players Friday, scoring 21 points in Team World’s 155-124 win over Team USA. The next night, Murray reached the semifinals round of the Skills Challenge where Spencer Dinwiddie edged him out. On Sunday, his final day in L.A., Murray made sponsorship appearances for Mountain Dew and the clothing line Express.
When all of it was over, Murray headed back to Denver instead of Toronto as originally intended. Murray wanted to squeeze in a trip to his home country before his head coach talked him out of it.
“The smartest decision he made was to not go back to Toronto,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “His initial plan was to go from L.A. to Toronto for a few days. My thing with that was, ‘Jamal, it’s going to be way too much on your body. To go from Denver to Milwaukee, Milwaukee to L.A, back to back games. Then the Skills Challenge.’ … He was going to catch a red eye back. It was too much.”
Murray returned to the Mile High City early for some much-needed down time. He slept a lot and saw a movie.
“You’ve got to see it,” he said about “Black Panther.”
Perhaps Murray will appreciate the extra rest at some point during this final stretch. The Nuggets have 24 regular-season games remaining. How Denver performs will determine if it nabs a playoff spot for the first time since 2013.
There isn’t much room for error in the Western Conference. Four and a half games are all that separate the third-seeded Spurs from the team in 10th, the Utah Jazz. Have one bad week, and the Nuggets (32-36) could be out of it — a scenario Murray is well aware of.
“We know first hand,” Murray said. “That happened last year. We’ve just got to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
A year ago, the Nuggets finished one game behind the Portland Trail Blazers for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Portland caught fire near the end of March, while Denver stumbled. That was all it took.
The Nuggets begin their post-All Star break schedule with three consecutive home games against the Spurs, Clippers and Rockets. After that they play 13 of their final 21 games on the road. Denver is just 9-19 away from Pepsi Center this season. It will have to improve on the road if it hopes to make the playoffs.
One thing working in its favor: The offense is once again firing on all cylinders. The Nuggets are averaging 114.6 points per 100 possessions in their last 12 games. On Thursday, they tied a franchise record by hitting 24 threes and torched the Bucks for 134 points.
“We’re one of the best offensive teams in the league,” Murray said. “Everybody can shoot. Everybody can play. Nobody is really specific to what they do. We’re very versatile. And we play well off each other. When we’re clicking, we’re a hard team to stop.”
Murray, who turns 21 on Friday, has been a big reason why. He’s averaging 18.3 points per game since the start of December. He’s also come up huge for Denver late in close games. The Nuggets will need his strong play to continue as the intensity ratchets up down the stretch.
“Whatever way we can,” Murray said. “Whatever it takes. Finishing ninth, a game out or a half game out of the playoffs, that’s something that can’t happen this year. Especially with this team.”
