The snarling, stalking postseason Jamal Murray was back Wednesday night.
It wasn’t in a sterilized environment devoid of fans, like the one he seized in Orlando in 2020 during the pandemic.
This 40-point classic in Game 2 of Denver’s first-round series against Minnesota was in front of his fans and gave his loyalists a moment to cherish. In Game 1, when Murray fought jitters and adrenaline to help the Nuggets rout the T-Wolves, the point guard enjoyed an appetizer of playoff basketball. The lopsided nature of the game lessened the stakes.
But Wednesday, as Anthony Edwards was authoring his own 41-point masterpiece and the Timberwolves were showing more resilience than the Nuggets gave them credit for, Murray came alive.
“He left a piece of him out there tonight,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said of Murray’s epic 40-point, 39-minute tour de force.
Between the jostling and the jawing, and his famously clutch Blue Arrows, it was vintage Murray.
“It means a lot, man,” he said of how rewarding a night like this is.
Nuggets fans in awe of Murray’s six 3-pointers should thank Edwards, who hit six of his own. Remember Donovan Mitchell? Murray often ratchets his competitiveness up when an opponent pushes him. Murray credited Edwards, whose shot-making and will dragged Minnesota back from 21 down to take the lead in the second half.
In Sunday’s Game 1, Murray’s obstacle was energy and containing the excitement that ripped through his first playoff game in more than 930 days. In Wednesday’s Game 2, it was meeting the minutes and physicality of a desperate T-Wolves team.
“Feels like it’s a first for everything, it’s just checking things off my list,” Murray said.
It’s been a season of firsts as Murray returned to the court following an 18-month absence due to his ACL recovery. On Wednesday, he leaned into playoff competition again, scratching an itch that he couldn’t get at while watching two miserable postseasons from the sidelines.
With 11 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Malone subbed Murray out and then beckoned to the crowd. After his devastating jumpers and icy 3-pointers kept Minnesota at bay, Ball Arena didn’t need Malone’s pleas.
“I was exhausted, I ain’t gonna lie,” Murray said when he met his coach with a hug.
Nearly 30 minutes after propelling the Nuggets to a 2-0 series lead, a postgame question struck a nerve.
Asked if the rhythm he caught against Minnesota compared to the heater he was on against the Jazz, Clippers and Lakers in the Bubble, Murray snapped back.
“It’s the same person,” he said. “I’m not split. I’m kind of exhausted of hearing that person as if that’s not me. That was just the beginning, in my opinion … If I keep looking back as you guys think that that was it, then I’m not gonna exceed that.”
Murray, he reminded a room full of reporters, was 26 years old and had more of his basketball story to write. It didn’t culminate in multiple 50-point games several years ago, before he sustained a traumatic injury that altered the course of his career.
It’s still being written, he said, and that’s the mentality he’s vowed to adopt.
With a healthier body, a stronger mindset, an offseason to train, Murray swore he was committed to improving and besting what he did in an empty gym tucked inside a Disney resort.
“There’s more to come,” he said.
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