You knew Jamal Murray was going to have a big night after he made his first shot. He had a swagger to him from that moment on, taking some tough shots and making them look easy. His shot making changes the Denver Nuggets offense. When he’s on, the Nuggets offense has a scoring orgy. In fact, in the four games that Murray has scored 20 or more points, the Nuggets have won by an average margin of 20 points per game, with victories over the Pelicans, Magic, Raptors, and Nets.
Murray completes the offense. With him and Gary Harris firing on all cylanders, the paint opens up for drives and cuts. Murray even got a rare curl cut for an open lane to the hoop off of Nikola Jokic, a play that was common in last year’s offense but has been much more rare this season. Perhaps it was a sign that the offense was beginning to find it’s footing?
Another sign that the offense is close to mid-season form? According to cleaningtheglass.com, the Nuggets half court offense against the Pelicans was the most efficient half court offensive game of the season by any team in the NBA. They’ve had two of the best offensive performances in the half court in their last three games, sandwiching the worst offensive half court game of the season. And if that isn’t enough to convince you, Denver’s starting lineup of Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Wilson Chandler, Paul Millsap, and Nikola Jokic has outscored opponents by 13 points per every 100 possessions, one of the best 5-man Net Ratings in all of the NBA. Since November 1st, that lineup has outscored opponents by 18.8 points per 100 possessions.
Check out Murray’s full highlights and get excited for this team’s very real potential.
