Jamal Murray’s right hamstring strain could keep him sidelined for the foreseeable future, Nuggets coach Michael Malone said Monday night before Denver hosted the Pelicans.
“We’ll kind of continue to talk to our doctors, but his injury is not a one- or two-game injury,” Malone said. “That’s what I do know. This will be something that will be longer than we would like. … You have to have the big picture in mind and make sure we’re putting him in position to get healthy before he comes back. Because this is an injury that, if you keep having recurring hamstring injuries or soft tissue injuries, they can linger and become even worse. And that’s the one thing we do not want to happen.”
Murray sustained the injury Saturday night when the Nuggets hosted the Chicago Bulls. He also dealt with a minor hamstring injury at the end of training camp in early October, but Malone said the new injury was an in-game incident rather than a lingering issue.
“Specific play,” Malone said. “It was in the second quarter, and (Murray) went to push off and just felt something in his hamstring.”
Murray had played 39 minutes the previous night in the front end of a back-to-back.
While he’s out, Reggie Jackson is expected to replace Murray in the starting lineup. Jackson has been Denver’s first player off the bench so far this season, playing second-string point guard behind Murray, though the Nuggets often use Nikola Jokic as a point center or other players to bring the ball up and initiate the offense.
Two-way player Collin Gillespie and rookie second-round draft pick Jalen Pickett are the next point guards on the depth chart.
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