Very, very, very disappointing in the first half Sunday evening against Dallas, Jamal Murray is clearly not at his best this season. The Nuggets leader is gritting his teeth because of his left knee, and it is difficult for him to be at his best. “If you saw the last game you saw how much of an impact it had on me. But tonight, I have to do better” he warned at the shootaround.
And Jamal Murray did better. And even much better! In this new outing in Dallas, the Canadian had his best game of the season with 45 points, including 32 in the first period! It had been two years since he last reached the 40-point mark in the regular season.
He didn't want to go out!
“In this type of match, when I am on the line, there is no reason to worry about me. It’s the group’s state of mind that takes over.”believes Jamal Murray. “I have the impression, and so does the team, that there is no need to worry. We just have to defend”
Of course, you have to defend, but Jamal Murray above all set the tone from the start of the match on offense with three 3-point baskets in five minutes to allow the Nuggets to lead 14-6. They will never see the Mavericks again… and Jamal Murray will offer a “pull-ump jumper” clinic. All to end the first quarter with a left hand basket with the board two seconds from the siren.
He is already at 19 points on the clock, without leaving a single second. “Don’t take me out” he says to Mike Malone who wanted to blow him away.
“When you’re in the zone, it’s fun,” recalls Jamal Murray, who will finish 18 out of 26 on shots, including 5 out of 9 from 3-point range. “Your team knows you’re in the zone. They are also trying to find you. The ball has a kind of energy and it was coming at me today. I was just playing, without thinking much about it. »
Too much pressure on the shoulders?
For his coach, we focus too much on the performance of his playmaker. The Nuggets remain on four victories in a row, and they are at the foot of the podium in the Western Conference. No need to point the finger at its leader.
“I find that the microscope placed on Jamal is a little too intense”explains Mike Malone. “Everyone just needs to let the kid breathe a little bit. It's not perfect. And if you look, I think his overall stats recently have been very good for us. »
As for the “kid”, he admits that he had a dream evening.
“If I missed a shot or lost the ball, I went straight to the next action. It's nice to play with a free mind, you know what I mean? Sometimes there are so many negative things in a match that pile up from one player to the next. Today was just the opposite. »
| Jamal Murray | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 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 | 0.3 | 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 | 2.2 | 0.3 | 21.2 |
| 2022-23 | DEN | 65 | 33 | 45.4 | 39.8 | 83.3 | 0.7 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 6.2 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 2.2 | 0.2 | 20.0 |
| 2023-24 | DEN | 59 | 32 | 48.1 | 42.5 | 85.3 | 0.7 | 3.4 | 4.1 | 6.5 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 21.2 |
| 2024-25 | DEN | 32 | 36 | 43.5 | 37.2 | 84.7 | 0.5 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 6.0 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 0.6 | 19.0 |
| Total | 501 | 31 | 45.1 | 37.9 | 86.6 | 0.8 | 3.0 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 0.4 | 17.6 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
