Jamal Murray’s battle back from his ACL tear has not been easy on the 25-year-old Denver Nuggets point guard, but after seeing him rip through the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night, it appears Murray has turned a corner in his return to his vintage self.
Murray had a level of comfort from start to finish when playing the Spurs that had only been seen in flashes. Instead of overthinking his way through a game that was so fast he felt stuck in second gear, Murray was in complete control.
“I feel good. Like you said, I am just finding my rhythm and I am getting better every game,” Murray told me after posting 13 points and nine assists on 60% shooting.
“I have been out for a while so thinking through the plays, thinking through the coverages and the matchups was all really fast at first,” Murray told me. “Now it is becoming natural and I don’t have to focus on it.”
Two years is an incredibly long time to be away from NBA basketball. Getting the necessary timing back as well as the required knowledge base is hard enough, but learning how you fit with new teammates and how to maximize everyone on the court after two years is almost cruel.
Despite that, Murray has worked through early season uncomfortableness on the court and — thanks to an assist from Nuggets head coach Michael Malone on Saturday night — Murray now seems to be reintegrated and in rhythm.
That assist from Malone to Murray came in the form of confidence via play calling. Of the Nuggets first 10 offensive possessions against the Spurs, seven of them involved Murray in the low post in some fashion; as a scorer, creator and even a decoy.
“If you go back to the first quarter — you know, one thing we talked about this summer is he is a really good low post player — we felt we could put him down there and we ran that same play probably the first six minutes of the game,” Malone told reporters after the Nuggets 126-121 beatdown of San Antonio.
To kick things off, Malone had the Nuggets run a post-up for Murray on the left side of the court. This is a set play meant to give Murray space to get into a rhythm early. Murray took full advantage with a nasty spinning floater to kick off the scoring.
This, according to Murray, was incredibly helpful towards him finding and keeping a rhythm.
“Very, very helpful,” Murray told me when I asked him about all of his post touches in the first quarter. “It helps me get into a rhythm for the rest of the game even when I am missing shots. It keeps me in a rhythm. Coach is instilling confidence in the team and me. Like you said, giving me space to work which has been a new thing this year. It has been nice.”
When something works, why go away from it, right? On the ensuing possession, the Nuggets went right back to Murray at the same spot on the floor, but this time the Spurs were not willing to let Murray just cook.
Yes, what you are seeing is correct. On the second play of the game, Murray in the low post commanded a double team from San Antonio. Murray stayed patient, got down low, made the double-team fully commit, and then dropped a beauty of a dump-off pass to Aaron Gordon for a dunk.
“We found a lot of offense from that,” Malone said during his postgame presser. “Not just Jamal scoring, but he started commanding a double-team and making the right play out of the double-team.”
Two Nuggets offensive possession later, the Nuggets went back to Murray in the post yet again; the third time in four possessions.
At this point, Murray was already in rhythm and comfortable. That spinning fadeaway is a vintage Murray post-up and is a welcome sight for the Nuggets.
Murray posted up for the next four possessions and, in total, seven of the first 10 possessions for the Nuggets, including this post-up variant that results in Murray isolating on the left wing and attacking the baseline.
This is fantastic work by Nuggets head coach Michael Malone. He knew he had an opportunity against a tired Spurs team at home to get Murray hot against a mismatch. He made an effort to get Murray in places he is comfortable from the very first possession of the game. That is exactly how to get your star player back in rhythm.
After the first 10 possessions, the rest of Murray’s game began to percolate. A joy and swagger returned.
This no-look drop pass to Jokic in transition off a fantastic Kentavious Caldwell-Pope steal is just basketball joy. There is no evidence of overthinking or being sped up by Murray. He is in control, playing fluidly, and making great reads in real time. There is nothing manufactured about that dime. That is just basketball bliss between arguably the best tandem in the NBA.
Murray’s passing just continued to flourish as the game went on.
This is classic two-man game between Nikola Jokic and Murray. Yes, things get a bit messy at the start of the possession, but there is never any quit. Murray and Jokic continue to screen and re-screen using the gravity of each other to create an advantage. Ultimately, Murray managed to get the defense sucked into the paint after a devastating screen by Jokic before making an unexpected no-look dump pass to Jokic under the rim. That pass is creative, in the flow of the offense and a read Murray made on the fly. His comfort level was growing right before our eyes.
Murray’s chemistry with the rest of the roster seems to grow day by day.
“It is getting better every game,” Murray told me. “We are moving the ball really well so everybody feels involved. It has been a progression. When we mess up, we are coming together in timeouts, talk it out, and get the job done.”
“We are unselfish. If the pass is there, the pass is there. Especially when I get going early. It helps the team and myself.”
As a cherry on the top, here is just a gorgeous no-look overhead pass from Murray to Jokic for an easy floater.
There was not even a shred of hesitancy or timidness for Murray. He was playing the way he plays and the Spurs were left to react to his strong performance. He punched first and kept punching; even after the game ended when he blatantly said that the Spurs gameplay was “unsuccessful tonight”.
“It was how they were playing me. They were trying to go under and stuff and I was beating them to the basket,” Murray explained to me. “Even when Bones was in he was getting to the rack forcing someone to step up and making dump off passes. The way they were playing was unsuccessful tonight.”
Not only did Murray look like himself on the court, but his bravado and confidence off the court was undeniable as well.
Before my talk with Murray ended and he left Ball Arena, Bones Hyland interrupted us to make sure to let everyone understood what just took place; that Jamal Murray is back in rhythm.
“That’s Mal! That is what he do!”
