When Jamal Murray gets edgy, it usually means something’s gotten under his thick skin.
Late Wednesday night, after the Nuggets won their eighth game in a row, Murray didn’t even allow a reporter to finish his question before he interjected with his steely confidence.
Asked about the dilemma the Nuggets appeared to be in after Nikola Jokic headed to the bench with foul trouble midway through the third quarter, Murray dismissed the premise.
“Why?” he said. He didn’t want to hear the answer.
In Murray’s mind, it didn’t matter that the two-time MVP was glued to the bench for the final 6:41 of the third quarter. In fact, over that span, Murray came alive. He rejected screens, knifed between defenders, and carved up Minnesota’s defense for 10 points to close the quarter. It was vintage Murray, the player who thrives on doubt and seizes on a chance to remind people what he’s capable of.
“Don’t be surprised,” Murray mused after scoring 19 of his 28 points in the second half.
When Jokic returned in the fourth quarter, he and Murray helped engineer the decisive 9-0 run that Denver used to close the game and improve to 32-13 on the season. Down 118-113 with 2:51 left, Jokic and Murray fell into their old habits.
“It’s like watching Stockton and Malone, it really is,” said acting Nuggets head coach David Adelman.
The lofty comparison was a nod to their shared chemistry and the unspoken understanding between the franchise pillars. It’s read-and-react, instead of regimented sets, and few run it better than those two.
“I trust him, he trusts me,” said Jokic, who was more than happy to share the limelight on the night he passed Alex English to become the franchise’s all-time leader in assists.
Allergic to fanfare, Jokic sat on the bench as a video montage played of his greatest assists.
“We clapped a little bit,” Murray joked, holding up his end of the buddy-cop friendship.
And even though the celebration was subdued, Jokic actually acknowledged he was proud of his latest accolade since it signified that he was a selfless, team player.
As if there was any doubt.
When Murray hit his 3-point dagger with 2:07 left, it was Jokic’s screen that gave him space. A minute later, Jokic set another screen, which Murray rejected. He instead powered into the lane and lofted up a soft floater to break the 118-118 gridlock with the Timberwolves.
Asked about the comparison to Utah’s legendary duo, Murray fell back on his firebrand confidence.
“I don’t think Stockton could score like me,” he said, but he agreed there was a similarity in how the respective duos controlled the pace and tempo of games.
Individually, each has a deep scoring reservoir, filled with counters and dekes that often leave defenders helpless. Combined with their shared knowledge of each other, it becomes a two-man wrecking crew capable of deciphering the most convoluted schemes.
“I think we’re very unique because they try to guard us in so many different ways,” Murray explained. “They try to put Kawhi and (Paul George) on us, so they can just switch it. We figured that out. Orlando tried to down us, not let me come off. Figured that out. From the Spurs to Portland, I feel like we’ve always had an answer.”
Murray half-heartedly joked they should run the two-man action for 48 minutes straight. There’s a comfort and understanding that when all else fails, at least they’ll have each other.
“It just feels like home,” Murray said.
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