The Return of The Real Jamal Murray Is Official. But Are the Nuggets Back, Too?

The NBA's second season is always a slugfest for those teams that survive from round to round, but when you have Jamal Murray on your side, you can expect his flair for a dramatic performance not to stay dormant throughout an entire series.

Murray, who may be the most underrated superstar in the NBA, refused to go quietly into the night and roared back in Game Three with another legendary playoff performance. 

In 38 minutes, Murray provided the spark the Nuggets needed, scoring 24 points, collecting five assists, and four rebounds, including two crucial 3-pointers. This win narrowed their second-round deficit to 2-1.

When the playoffs started this year, Murray was dealing with a wide variety of injuries. Still, in the first round against the Lakers, he powered through those injuries and ended up hitting not one but two game-winners, which ultimately sent the Lakers on vacation and hunting for a new head coach. 

Beyond frustrated and dealing with a nagging calf strain in their Game 2 blowout loss —Murray temporarily lost it and tossed a heat pack onto the court, for which he received a $100k fine from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.

Silver, regarded as a player-friendly Commissioner, certainly could have suspended Murray for a game for the act, which is what the NFL’s Commissioner Roger Goodell would have probably done. However, Silver is nearing the completion of a $76 billion new media rights deal and most likely opted for the ratings over appropriate discipline.   

Murray, who took full advantage of the long, nearly 4-day break between game two and game three to get himself healthy, was clearly the main reason the Nuggets looked like the Championship Nuggets on Friday Night, easily beating the Minnesota Timberwolves in game three 117-90 in front of a stunned Timberwolves fan base that coming into the game were thinking the Wolves were going to sweep the Nuggets away like they had done to the Phoenix Suns in round one.

“Less thinking, more attacking, more aggression, and Jamal definitely set the tone with that and he feeds off that,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “He’s a guy that plays with a ton of emotion. And I think actually that’s when he plays at his best.”

What’s The Murray Say?
“This was probably the best game I felt going into the game,” Murray said when asked about his calf, which tightened up again in the fourth quarter. “But it’s good. At this point in the season, everybody’s dealing with something, so I’m just glad that I’m good enough to be out there and do my job at a high level.”

“It’s fun. I embrace that challenge. I embrace that moment,” Murray said after the game. “I probably deserved the boos so I’m not shying away from it, but it was a lot of fun to go out there and embrace the challenge and have that kind of game for my teammates.”

“I think we did a good job screening, just playing for each other, you know?” Murray said. “Not fighting anything. We’re not rushing anything … just being more physical and owning our spots.”

THE UNDERRATED OPINION
I suspect the Timberwolves will address the Nuggets' adjustments in Game 4; however, I believe the Timberwolves have the full attention of the entire Nuggets team and are in for a battle.

The Wolves will need to address their offensive issues in the next game and look to get the Nuggets into foul trouble early. They will likely need to concede that they cannot stop Nikola Jokic and Murray and focus on shutting down Michael Porter Jr., one of the keys to the Timberwolves' winning the series.