Nuggets second-year point guard Jamal Murray was removed from the starting lineup for an undisclosed reason for Saturday’s game against Dallas.
Murray checked into the game with about five minutes remaining in the first quarter. Will Barton, who had been Denver’s starting small forward the past two games, started at point guard, while rookie two-way player Torrey Craig started at small forward. Since starting lineups are released after coach Michael Malone’s pregame availability, the decision to bench Murray was not addressed before the contest.
Murray, who had started all 47 games he had played this season before Saturday, entered the contest as Denver’s second-leading scorer, averaging 16.3 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
Millsap recovery progressing. Injured Nuggets forward Paul Millsap remains “definitely on schedule” to return from wrist surgery shortly after the all-star break in mid-February, Malone said Friday.
Millsap, who has been out since mid-November with a torn ligament in his left wrist, can now go through shooting, ball handling and light catching drills while also escalating his conditioning. Malone said Millsap’s rehab is primarily focused on regaining range of motion because the hand and wrist remain “very stiff.”
“There are good days and bad days,” Malone said. “He’s a little sore right now from that ramping up his on-court activity, but he’s fired up. He’s working hard.”
Millsap, a four-time all-star and the Nuggets’ marquee free-agent signing this past summer, averaged 15.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 16 games before the injury.
Malone feels “awful” for injured DeMarcus Cousins. As Malone was toggling through various NBA games Friday night, he flipped back to the end of the New Orleans-Houston matchup and saw Pelicans star big man DeMarcus Cousins being carried off the floor.
Cousins, who played for Malone in Sacramento, has since been diagnosed with a season-ending torn Achilles. Malone quickly sent Cousins a supportive text message and told reporters during his pregame availability Saturday that he feels “awful” for his former player.
“Where he has come from, the progress that he’s made as a player and a person,” Malone said, “for that to be taken away from him in the middle of such a great run — they were playing well, and he was putting up historic-type numbers.
“I feel awful for him and his family, but he’ll be back. He’s a tough, tough kid, and he’s a competitive kid.”
Murray to play, then rest during All-Star Weekend. Murray said Friday that he is excited to return to the Rising Stars Challenge during All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles, after being named the game’s MVP a year ago.
But unlike last year, when he enjoyed the entire weekend’s festivities, Murray will depart immediately after the Feb. 16 Rising Stars event for his hometown of Kitchener, Ontario, to spend the bulk of the break with his family.
“It was tiring,” Murray said. “It was a busy weekend — thatap what I remember the most about it. Thatap why I’m not spending the whole weekend again. But I’ll be ready for game time.”
Murray totaled 36 points (including a 9-of-14 mark from 3-point distance) and 11 assists last year for Team World, which beat Team USA 150-139.
Footnote. Malone confirmed Saturday that rookie forward Tyler Lydon, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery Friday, will be out for approximately four months. Lydon sustained the injury while driving to the basket during a G League game Wednesday.
