MINNEAPOLIS — Running into a Rudy Gobert screen can feel like colliding with a brick wall. For Jamal Murray, the result was a lot of pain and a lot of bricks.
Murray attributed his 4-for-18 Game 6 performance partially to a right elbow injury that he sustained while defending a screen two possessions into the 115-70 loss Thursday night.
The Nuggets point guard never exited the game due to the injury, but he was shaken up immediately, flexing his right arm on the court during live play to test how the elbow felt. He said he put numbing cream on the elbow when he went to the bench, “just so I didn’t have to feel it every time I extended it,” but it didn’t feel better for the rest of the game.
When asked if the injury was the type of stinger that should heal with two days off before Game 7, Murray said, laughing: “I mean, I hope. I hope for our team’s sake. I hope for my team’s sake I can get it right.”
He’s right about that. The Nuggets have already lived and died by Murray’s mercurial shooting percentages throughout their first 11 playoff contests. Now their first elimination game in more than two calendar years might hinge on the physical status of multiple Murray limbs.
Murray has been dealing with a left calf strain since the first round — a significant factor in his recent inefficiency. He’s 39.2% from the field and 31.1% from 3-point range this postseason. Excluding an 18-point first half in Game 3, he’s 34.8% from the field and 29.2% from three in this Minnesota series.
“Everybody gets hurt. Ant (Anthony Edwards) just got hurt,” Murray said, referring to the painful landing Edwards played through in Game 6. “It was just the fact that I was shooting the ball. That’s what I do most. So I was never really getting into my rhythm again, and my team obviously needed me to tonight. And I didn’t. So I’m disappointed in myself for not being able to give them the right production that I know I can.”
Exactly how essential is Murray’s production? In the regular season, the Nuggets were 29-6 when he scored 20 or more points and 16-2 when he scored 25-plus. They were 28-19 when he scored fewer than 20.
In the playoffs, they’re 5-1 when he meets the 20-point threshold and 2-3 when he doesn’t.
Efficiency matters as well. The Nuggets won all 15 of Murray’s best shooting percentage games this regular season. Including the playoffs, they are 33-3 when he makes 45% or more of his field goal attempts. And they are 11-12 when he shoots 40% or worse on double-digit attempts.
That Murray has shot worse than 40% in more than half of Denver’s playoff games so far is the most alarming element of this upcoming Game 7. This is as mortal as he’s ever looked in a playoff setting, and it’s as vulnerable as the defending champions have been in ages.
“Just owning the negativity, man,” Murray said when asked about the days ahead before Game 7. “We played terrible. I played terrible. Own it. And let’s use that to come out in front of our home fans and play the right way.”
The 27-year-old was relaxed and introspective after Game 6, despite both the historic nature of the loss and the ominous pain in his elbow. He repeated the refrain he has used when grilled about his calf: that every player is banged up this time of year, that minor injuries are no excuse for poor performances. He alluded to Denver’s encouraging bounce-back after a similar blowout loss in Game 2. (“I think when you get beat like we did in Game 2, we carry that over and respond in the right way.”) And he touched on what the Nuggets need to do if they find themselves in a position where they need to overcome another bad shooting game.
“Gotta defend. We’ve just gotta be more physical. Own our spots. Early help. Rotating, communicating. I think that’s the biggest thing,” he said. “Every game during the season, you’re going to struggle offensively. But can you stop the other team from scoring when you’re doing so? I think that’s our biggest challenge, right? Just getting stops. And run-outs. Just playing at our pace that we want to play at. They had it today. I don’t want to take no credit from Minnesota. They came to play. They brought that energy, and they used the home crowd to their advantage.”
Those observations will be applicable to himself. The Timberwolves continued to attack Murray’s defense in Game 6, capturing him on switches and forcing him to guard in the post. He was a team-worst minus-32 on the floor. The second unit surrounding him struggled at both ends.
“Even though we knew that we could cut the lead, we didn’t do anything about it or change anything — not gameplan wise, but energy and discipline wise,” he said. “We didn’t change anything to shift the momentum in our favor.”
Murray is living, limping proof of the existence of momentum. When he makes one, he’s primed to make 12. Before this series, Anthony Edwards told The Denver Post, “without him, they’re not good. It’s just that simple.” Game 7 is just that simple, too.
