PHOENIX – Jamal Murray needs very little in the way of reassurance these days.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone provided some anyway after Denver’s star guard had his first off night on offense of the postseason. Murray finished 3 of 15 Tuesday night as the Nuggets grinded out a 97-87 win over Phoenix to go up 2-0 in the Western Conference semifinals. Malone made sure Murray saw the good in his own performance.
“Yeah, he didn’t shoot the ball well but as I keep telling him, like, he impacted winning,” Malone said. “Zero-for-9 from 3? I don’t care. You helped impact winning. Thatap all that matters.”
Murray did so from the opening tip. Literally.
As soon as Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Phoenix’s DeAndre Ayton pushed the ball into the Suns’ backcourt, Murray charged between wing Josh Okogie and point guard Chris Paul in pursuit, knocking the former off-balance, the latter to the floor and the ball out of bounds. On the inbound, Murray put his chest into Paul and guarded him the length of the floor.
It set the tone.
“I love it. I love the fact that he’s so engaged and locked in right now,” Malone said. “Thatap his mindset. ‘Hey, I’m picking up full. I’m going to set the tone not just with my offense but with my defense.’ Thatap a good sign.
“And I think not just Jamal but everyone playing for us right now has a similar mindset of being aggressive, being physical and having a hit-first mentality.”
Murray missed his first five shots in Game 1 against Minnesota in Denver’s playoff debut last month, but after that went on a five-game offensive tear. From his first make of the postseason through the end of Game 1 against the Suns, the 26-year-old guard made 50.4% overall from the field and 48% of his 50 3-pointers. That made for averages of 28.3 points, 6.8 assists and 5.5 rebounds over Denver’s first six playoff contests.
One off night, then, won’t raise any alarm bells.
“We know what he’s capable of,” Jokic said Thursday. “He’s a threat on the floor and people need to guard him. Just because he had a bad day — he had good looks, every shot he took he had great looks, so itap just a matter of if he’s making them.”
Malone did make a point, however, of emphasizing that he can do a better job of taking some of the offensive load off Murray’s shoulders in Friday nightap Game 3 here and onward.
“Just like the Minnesota series, he’s getting so much attention,” the eighth-year coach said. “Bringing the ball up, off the ball they’re not leaving him. So I can find ways to maybe not put so much demand on him to bring the ball up every time down and get turned three times in the backcourt and get us into an offense and now at the end of the clock make a play. Thatap a lot. So we can kind of lessen his burden a little bit. …
“I mean, itap tough to burn the candle at both ends and be elite. It really is.”
Murray may also pick his spots more at the defensive end. Phoenix may well be going forward in the series without Paul (strained groin), which could impact Murray’s approach, but the Nuggets will also be playing more often unless they sweep. Denver’s currently in the midst of a stretch in which itap played just twice in 11 days. Now this series will run every other day until its conclusion.
“The thing is, you can’t turn off the defense. He’s got to guard,” Malone said of Murray, who is logging 38.3 minutes per game. “When he was in the bubble (in 2020) he guarded at a high level and I think this postseason he’s guarded really well. So itap maybe just being a little bit smarter and kind of picking your spots on when you pick up (full court) and those kinds of things. But for what we need from Jamal, itap hard to pick guys up 94 feet, turn them and be a 30-point scorer, seven or eight rebounds, six or seven assists.”
Make no mistake, though, Malone’s thrilled with his point guard’s mentality and how it’s affected the roster.
“The attitude is prevalent from our vets, from the guys that aren’t playing to the guys in our eight-man rotation,” Malone said. “Everyone is of the same mindset right now and thatap what you love to see, everyone coming together, understanding the opportunity we have and making sure we make the most of it.”
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