The Athletic: Jamal Murray's Breakout game changes the calculation for nuggets: “He was born for it”

Note from the publisher: Read more NBA reporting from The Athletic here. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA or their teams.

***

Denver – Jamal Murray's beauty has always been his ability to remain equal and confident. And maybe we should all have seen these properties.

He was relentlessly pushed as a child when he was trained by his father Roger. Murray took game gaming recordings in his entrance. And it was suspended in pressure situations at every basketball stand and consistently delivered.

Murray's promotion to an elite playoff -riser for the Denver Nuggets is carried out of large shots and games as long as he can remember. Murray was never afraid. He always had a short memory, never missed protecting him and could always go to the next game or game.

In this series of the first round against the La Clippers, he had his problems, especially against the overwhelming defense of the La Clippers guard Kris Dunn. But Murray consistently prepared the hero Cape when his team needed it. His coaches and teammates knew that he was due for a big game in the first four games in razor.

So we should not be surprised by his 43-point explosion in Denvers 131: 115 game 5 in the Ball Arena on Tuesday, which gave the Nuggets a 3-2 series. Murray was average and good in this series, but he had no game in which he was taken over with his shot production and offensive skills.

Until Tuesday evening.

“Some of the recordings he took this evening were absolutely ridiculous,” said Denver Interim coach David Adelman. “He is a special player, and tonight he appeared like the special player he was always. I thought we did some things to get rid of him. The boys showed better, and that gave him a little space to work. We got him into space and got him moving.”

Murray's ability to concentrate on what lies in front of us explains how he is able to turn a switch so suddenly and why it is always dangerous, even if he does not shoot or play well. He shot 5 out of 17 from the field on Saturday in game 4. He won 7 out of 20 in a win 1. The Clipper let him work hard for the look.

On Tuesday, Murray enjoyed more space on the floor than at any time of this series. La had done a great job to get him to push against resistance in the color and on the basket and to consistently shoot it in the face with one hand. The Clippers have waned these points in game 5, and Murray had them paid.

Murray went 17 out of 26 from the field and hit eight 3 points, which corrected Minnesotas Anthony Edwards for the highest point game of this post-season and his sixth career 40 point game in the playoffs.

But La really failed in the game in the game. At the beginning of the game, Murray drove to an undisputed dunk and was often lifted through traffic with ease. The Clippers had done a great job to keep it out of the transition in the series, but Murray detached himself several times for simple baskets.

For the first time in the series, Murray was better than Dunn, who is one of the best perimeter defenders of the league. The two had gone back and forth for most of the series. But in game 5 he owned Murray with his shot capabilities, the clever ball handling and the pick-and-roll game.

“You have so many possessions against him, sometimes I just have to choose my places,” said Murray about Dunn's defense. “There are times when I have to roll with the blows, and there are times when I have to make him react.

“We are from the same design lessons and he was selected in front of me, so I think about it. It's fun to fight with him. He challenges me and I challenge him. The playoffs are there for that.”

Murray showed that he can still touch the heights he has reached in Denvers 2023 championship run. The most important thing is that he gave Nikola Jokić a relatively simple offensive night.

In the first four games, Jokić was the intermediary and Denvers. There are not many games in which the nuggets can win conveniently when Jokić scored 13 points from the field at 4-of-13 shooting, as they did in game 5.

In the post -season it is about balance, and Murray has expanded a certain balance for one night that Jokić has to bear. And both received a considerable amount of help.

Aaron Gordon, the hero on Saturday, scored 23 points and consistently punished the clipper in the interior because he had recorded it smaller defenders. Russell Westbrook was great from the bank and scored 21 points, 16 of which came in the first half. He made shots out of the scope, put the pressure on the defense of LA out of dribble and delivered the first real bank production for the nuggets since game 1.

“I thought we played a long distance tonight and thought we played at a better pace,” said Westbrook. “I thought we would give the tone in this game with our defense and our room. I thought we did a good job when we concentrate and let our things run.

“Jamal led us. When he is aggressive as if he were tonight, we are another team. And when he plays at this level, and with the boast he did this evening, we are a hard team to beat.”

The nuggets looked less than a week ago as if they were in a bad place. The Clippers defeated them in game 3 with 117: 83 to put a 2-1 series in the lead. But that is around. The common thread is that Denver built 22 points leads in the last two games in the fourth quarter. In game 4, the nuggets allowed the Clipper to gather and almost steal the game. In game 5, the nuggets close the door.

In the first three games in the series, La Denver really disturbed Jokić's pressure defense and the schematic doubling of Jokić on the post and scope. But the nuggets have adapted. Game 5 was by far the best offensive game in the series. The nuggets shot 55 percent from the field and 51 percent from the 3-point area. As Westbrook said, the distance from Denver has improved in the course of the series.

The adjustments in the game of Adelman and his employees worked, e.g. The realization that LA tried to hide James Harden and Norman Powell – two inferior defenders – via Gordon and take advantage of these matchups was also great.

Adelman quickly waited that the series that moves to Los Angeles for game 6 on Thursday is far from over. But the nuggets have become stronger in the course of the series.

“We know that we just have to win, man,” said Murray. “I think we did a great job to stay for each other tonight. We had to play hard and play well and find things out for ourselves. We had great screens and run the ground. It is a big reason why we were able to win this evening.”

* * *

Tony Jones is an employee of athletic who covers Utah Jazz and the NBA. It comes from the east coast and as a child as a child, has an addiction to hip-hop music and pickup basketball, and his Twitter side was used for occasional debates about Biggie and Tupac. Follow Tony on Twitter @Tjonesonthenba