For every two steps Jamal Murray takes forward, there’s an inevitable regression he’s come to expect.
Even though Murray slogged through Sunday’s win over Charlotte, a 119-115 nail-biter that required a herculean effort from Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets’ franchise point guard still viewed the effort in a positive light. Murray managed just 2-for-11 shooting, including 0 of 6 from 3-point range. But his 11 assists, to just three turnovers, were a team-high.
Beyond that, Murray found it invaluable to learn to play through the soreness that emanated from his surgically-repaired left knee.
“I didn’t want to sit out,” he said from Tuesday’s shootaround, ahead of Denver’s marquee matchup against Memphis. “… It was good to know, good to have that feedback.”
Murray was officially listed as questionable on the injury report on Tuesday and was later deemed inactive due to his knee shortly before tip-off. Murray wasn’t dismayed by his showing on Sunday but instead encouraged that he could fight through it. Better yet, he found production in other ways.
“I can not score and (still) have a decent game,” he said, citing his screening, floor-spacing, defensive communication, and his distributing.
Itap all part of Murray’s road to recovery, and his discovery of playing a “different way,” when he’s not at full health.
If that happens later this season or even potentially in the postseason, at least Murray has a database that he can draw from. As the Grizzlies gathered for their shootaround Tuesday morning on the main court at Ball Arena (while Denver did its work on the team’s practice court), Murray conceded that itap a bit easier to plow through pain when there’s a matchup between the top two seeds in the Western Conference on deck.
But, speaking pragmatically, there’s the flip side to the equation as well.
“It can take you out (of) the game as well,” he said, allowing that occasionally, his mind will wander to how his knee is feeling.
Murray’s played 25 of Denver’s 29 games thus far and is averaging 30.8 minutes per game, the second-highest total on the team. Amid that, Murray’s averaging 17.5 points and a career-high 5.4 assists as his game has adapted to his body’s capability.
He’s had highs (last week’s game-winner at Portland) and lows (the doldrums of the past few games). But as long as he’s on the court and building confidence, itap fair to deem whatever the result a victory.
“(I) got some good information on myself,” he said.
