Coming back from a serious injury is never easy and Jamal Murray is another example of that. Victim of a cruciate ligament rupture in the knee in April 2021, the Nuggets leader had a white 2021/22 campaign, before returning to the courts this season. Obviously, with a lot of ups and downs…
He thus came out of a game with 11 points, 2/11 shooting, against Dallas, and his first three quarters against Portland were not famous either, with only 7 points at 3/10 shooting.
Except that shooters have a short memory in the NBA, and Jamal Murray forgot his clumsiness in the fourth quarter to engage in an epic duel with Damian Lillard. While the leader of the Blazers compiled 14 points in the final round, his counterpart from the Nuggets also compiled 14 points. With the winning shot!
“It was an action for Nikola (Jokic), to give him space and let him work” explains Jamal Murray afterwards. “But he caught the ball badly and he told me to come. I turned, I saw the clock, I understood that I didn’t need to hurry, so I made my move. »
As Chauncey Billups railed at his players, leading by two points, which let Jamal Murray take a 3-pointer to kill the game, Mike Malone hailed his point guard’s progress.
“These small victories, these small moments – of which life is made – these small moments make this journey all the more rewarding”
“I told Jamal at the start of the season that he had to learn that coming back is a journey. That he will be better in a month, at Christmas, and in the playoffs as he continues to improve. And tonight is a nice step in that direction.” thus concludes the technician of the Rockies.
Mike Malone even confides in The Athletic that Jamal Murray sent him text messages after the game against Dallas, apologizing for his game and especially for his state of mind, marked by a lot of frustration. A lesson he applied against the Blazers because even if he was clumsy, he found the mental strength to stay in the game.
“I was in trouble so I had to defend to get back into the game” he assured. “That’s what my dad taught me growing up. If you play badly, defend yourself in the game. That’s what I did. I wanted to defend on Dame (Lillard), Anfernee (Simons) and Jerami (Grant) at the end. And that’s what revived me.”
What to afford this magical end of the match, which could be extremely valuable for the future.
“These small victories, these small moments – of which life is made – these small moments make this journey all the more rewarding”concludes Mike Malone. “It’s great for him. »
| Jamal Murray | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2016-17 | DEN | 82 | 22 | 40.4 | 33.4 | 88.3 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 2.6 | 2.1 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 9.9 |
| 2017-18 | DEN | 81 | 32 | 45.1 | 37.8 | 90.5 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 3.7 | 3.4 | 2.1 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 0.4 | 16.7 |
| 2018-19 | DEN | 75 | 33 | 43.7 | 36.7 | 84.8 | 0.9 | 3.4 | 4.2 | 4.8 | 2.0 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 0.4 | 18.2 |
| 2019-20 | DEN | 59 | 32 | 45.6 | 34.6 | 88.1 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 4.8 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 18.5 |
| 2020-21 | DEN | 48 | 36 | 47.7 | 40.8 | 86.9 | 0.8 | 3.3 | 4.0 | 4.8 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 21.2 |
| 2022-23 | DEN | 20 | 30 | 43.3 | 36.2 | 78.1 | 0.5 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 5.0 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 17.6 |
| Total | 365 | 30 | 44.5 | 36.7 | 87.2 | 0.8 | 2.9 | 3.7 | 3.9 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 16.4 | |
