MINNEAPOLIS – Next up: Jamal Murray.
Injuries have decimated the Nuggets shooting guard spot, taking down starter Gary Harris and reserve Will Barton. Neither will play on Thursday at Minnesota, and that puts Murray, a rookie, right in the spotlight.
“Itap a good opportunity for me to get used to this team and be on the court,” said Murray, who could start unless the Nuggets shake up the lineup a bit. “Itap going to be good.”
Murray, who the Nuggets drafted seventh overall this year, hasn’t played a ton thus far but that will change now. He’s logged 12.3 minutes per game, and has yet to make his first NBA field goal. He says he’s not worried about that.
“No, no, no,” Murray said. “We’re just focused on this team and trying to get better.”
Nuggets coach Michael Malone isn’t fretting over his rookie’s 0-for-8 start from the field, either.
“I think he’ll do great,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “I thought even though he didn’t score in the Toronto game, I liked how he played. He played with toughness, took a charge, got into the ball, had good game-plan discipline. He had a great pass off of one of our plays to (Jusuf) Nurkic for a 3-point play.
“Some guys are specialists, where they can only impact the game in one way. And some people think Jamal is just a shooter. He’s so much more than that. I think he’ll be fine, he led us in preseason minutes, so I think he’ll be more than ready to play when called upon.”
Barton, Harris out. The Nuggets practiced at the Target Center on Wednesday morning, and afterward knew they’d be without both Will Barton (ankle) and Gary Harris (groin). However, Darrell Arthur did practice fully and has a chance to make his season debut if he experiences no swelling overnight and then makes it clean through shootaround on Thursday morning.
“I know itap been frustrating for D.A., he’s a competitor, he wants to play, he’s tough,” Malone said. “For him to get through all of practice was one of the many bright spots.”
