NEW YORK — Jamal Murray wasn’t interested in dwelling on the fact that the first-place Nuggets had lost five of six games following their loss to the Knicks on Saturday afternoon.
“Game (Sunday),” he said, flipping the page to Brooklyn in about 24 hours.
He wasn’t keen on celebrating his game-high 25 points on 5-for-7 3-point shooting, either.
“We lost,” he said curtly in the postgame locker room.
Even though Murray started to emerge from his mini-slump against the Knicks, which has, unsurprisingly, coincided with Denver’s recent slide, he’s still facing an uphill battle as the playoffs approach. In the last six games, Murray’s shooting just 38% from the field and 34% from the 3-point line. Ironically, though, it’s not the offense that has Nuggets coach Michael Malone’s eye.
Malone has seen more than enough from Murray in his years to believe that those shots, on good looks, will start to drop. For Malone, his constant challenge to Murray is on the defensive end. Prior to Thursday’s win over Detroit, Malone reinforced that side of the ball to his star point guard.
“Get back to playing defense,” he told him.
Malone said the best version he’d ever seen of Murray was the one in the Bubble, where, despite Murray’s prolific scoring, he had too much pride to allow for a double-team on a player such as Kawhi Leonard.
“I wanna see that Jamal Murray,” Malone said.
Murray wasn’t the primary defender on Jalen Brunson, who swerved through Denver’s defense for 24 points on Saturday afternoon. But there were a handful of chances where his defense, boosted by quality resistance, was sound on the burly guard. In another example though, after Murray forced a miss early in the game, he leaked out early only to let Brunson recover and bury a second-chance 3-pointer.
Those were the type of possessions that hurt Denver on Saturday and the type that need to be eliminated before the postseason begins.
“(Malone’s) watching, so maybe when he sees me playing defense, he knows I’m gonna be more into the game,” Murray said of one side of the game bleeding into the other.
In recent weeks, Murray’s dealt with right knee inflammation, and several games ago, wasn’t able to finish a game due to left knee soreness. Both injuries raise red flags, for obvious reasons. But given that the Nuggets are scuffling, there’s an urgency to establish momentum before the playoffs arrive.
There also should be some consideration toward giving Murray a break. In his last three games, he’s played 40, 39, and 35 minutes, respectively.
“It’s a daily conversation with Jamal, the training staff,” Malone said. “See where he’s at, not just physically, but mentally as well.”
Resting Murray presents another problem. He’s currently Denver’s choice to stagger with the second unit, which is perhaps their biggest vulnerability over the final three weeks of the season. Murray needs to play alongside Bruce Brown, Christian Braun, Jeff Green and Thomas Bryant to establish an identity among that group. Malone is bound to rely on some version of that unit in a playoff series.
But he also needs him healthy — and applying pressure defensively — as well.
Sunday’s back-to-back against Brooklyn will yield yet another test for Malone and Murray. Hone in on the defense and refine the second unit or play the long game, otherwise known as preservation.
It’s a daily conversation the duo is bound to explore.
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