Jamal Murray has been a hyper-polarizing player all year for the Denver Nuggets. On one hand, his flame-throwing style as a scorer could be the weapon Denver’s needs to take their first legitimate step into championship contention, but on the other hand, Murray’s questionable decision making has been a sizable hindrance in Denver’s pursuit of playing consistent basketball.
On Friday night, during the Denver Nuggets massive 115-105 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, it was Murray who stepped up in a huge way and quieted his doubters with a masterful 27-point, five-rebound, nine-assist performance on the road on the second night of the back to back against a very tough Thunder team.
Murray’s play was so outstanding that Nuggets’ head coach Michael Malone proclaimed Murray’s performance as possibly the best game he has played as a professional.
“I thought Jamal Murray — this might have been Jamal’s best game — complete game — in a Nuggets uniform,” Michael Malone said. “I loved how he played tonight.”
Honestly, it is almost impossible to disagree with Malone; especially after re-watching Murray’s performance in a more detailed manner. So, instead of just talking about how great Murray was against the Thunder, let’s just dive into the film.
Jamal Murray; the tough-shot maker
Murray has always been a tough-shot maker and that skill was on full display against the Thunder. Murray was uncorking absurd shot after absurd shot as he helped carry the Nuggets to one of their most impressive victories of the year.
The full spin move and step-back jumper in the clip above is insane. Murray makes it looks easy, but make no mistake; the level of difficulty for that shot is obscene and Murray managed to hit hit anyway despite Steven Adams’ strong contest.
There are a very small number of players who can make that shot in the NBA, but Murray can do so while making it look effortless. His skill level and touch is just astounding at times.
Here is another incredibly difficult shot that Murray converts effortlessly.
This is just Murray giving Dennis Schroder that work. Schroder actually plays strong defense on Murray as he cut off his drive to the rim, but then Murray unleashes some spectacular footwork with one of the most effective pump fakes of the 2018-19 season to get an easy look at a floater for a surprisingly easy two points.
Still, everyone knows that Murray is able to convert tough shots. What made his performance against the Thunder so impressive was that he also balanced incredible shot making with patient execution as well.
Patience is a virtue
Murray has taken more pull-up 3-pointers in transition than I can count, but not a single one of them has looked as poised and controlled as this one.
The second that Steven Adams hedges out to contain Will Barton on the perimeter, Murray is already hunting the perfect moment to dart to the rim. He knows that, with Adams hedging, Terrance Ferguson suddenly has to split the difference between himself and Jokic.
That is the only ready Murray needed. Once Adams hedged, Murray knew that the ball would be swung back to Jokic which, would force Ferguson to step up to defend Jokic, leaving Murray unguarded, but instead of rushing his cut to the rim, he sat and waited for the perfect opportunity to cut.
Once Ferguson took his first step towards Jokic, Murray was already gone as he used his Ferguson’s weight distribution against him. With Ferguson leaning away from Murray and Adams being away from the rim as he tries to recover onto Jokic, Murray starts his cut to the rim. Once Murray gets to his spot and the pass has been received, he even slows up his momentum in order to give himself the best chance to convert the open look and to avoid the late rotation of the Thunder.
Every movement was calculated and every decision was decisive by Murray in the play above. That is the development that will make Murray into a lethal offensive threat.
Bringing it all together
What we have yet to touch on is what happens when Murray’s patience as a scorer is combined with his ability to hit a shot from anywhere on the hardwood. Against the Thunder, it was that combination that allowed Murray to carry the Nuggets to their 20th road win of the season and their 51st overall win.
The Nuggets egalitarian offense is virtually unguardable when they are executing at a high level, but there are points in every game where Denver needs a player who can create points on their own.
Murray has slowly, but surely become that player for the Nuggets and he provided more and more evidence to support that conclusion in his masterful performance in Oklahoma City.
Once again, here is Murray just abusing Schroder, who had no answers for Murray all night, but note the time left on the shot clock.
Instead of settling for a step-back 3-pointer, one of Murray’s favorite shots when the clock is winding down, Murray tells Gary Harris to space out a bit further and attacks the shoulder of Schroder to get him to open up his hip as he turns to run and keep pace with Murray.
Once Murray gets Schroder to open up his hips, he knows that he will be able to create space by pulling up for the mid-range jump shot, but instead of rushing to rise up and hit the jumper as the shot clock continues to wind down, Murray throws in one more hesitation move to freeze Schroder. That last little hesitation gives Murray just enough room to get off a fairly good look at at the free throw line which he hits.
When Murray staying patient and getting to the best shot possible, he becomes an extremely difficult scorer to cover.
Just look at how hopeless Jerami Grant — who is an extremely versatile defender — is in the video below as Murray sizes him up with the shot clock running down.
There is nothing more to this play other than Murray being an absolutely lethal shooter with no fear. Murray was cool, calm, and collected as he got Grant onto his heels before converting a demoralizing step-back 3-pointer.
Remember that little anecdote about Murray’s favorite move with the clock winding down is a step-back 3-pointer? That was not a joke.
In the play below, Murray shows off the shooting touch that only a handful of players in the National Basketball Association possess, but he also utilizes his newfound patience
Murray does not rush his 3-pointer because he is purposely waiting for Paul George to slide away from him before shooting and using a pump fake to get Adams into the air. Those two subtle decisions allowed Murray to get a much cleaner look at the rim.
Murray made the conscious decision to let the defense finish rotating despite the shot clock ticking closer and closer to zero in the fourth quarter of a close game against a division opponent. That takes a level of poise that very few 22-year-olds have.
More than just a scorer
The patience that Murray played with against the Thunder not only improved his scoring ability. The area of his game that improved the most was actually his playmaking.
One of Murray’s biggest issues at the NBA level has been his inability to create advantageous passing angles.
Against the Thunder, that problem seemed to be solved. Just look at the patience that Murray has in the clip below as he sets up Jokic for an easy layup.
There are two particular decisions that Murray consciously makes on this play that are a big deal.
First, Murray does not leave his feet when he picks up his dribble. That has been an issue more than a few times this season and it limits his ability to keep Denver’s offense in motion. Instead of jumping and forcing himself to make a split decision, he picks up his dribble and spins on his pivot foot to create a more advantageous situation for himself and his team.
Secondly, Murray stays patient (I am not sorry for using that word so often) and he lets the defense continue to rotate instead of forcing a pass to Jokic. As Murray rotates on his pivot foot, Ferguson flies by him, Adams sticks with Murray after hedging, Westbrook jumps back out to Harris as he expects a swing pass, and Schroder takes a step towards Morris in the corner. All of that adds up to Jokic being wide open right in front of the rim.
That play is the perfect example of Murray thinking through the game and not just reacting to what is thrown his way. That Jokic layup was created entirely by Murray and his patient approach.
And Murray was not done setting up Jokic.
Murray managed to dish out this beautiful dime to Jokic when the Nuggets badly needed a bucket to keep some distance between them and the Thunder in the fourth quarter.
This is the two-man game that has make the Nuggets so lethal late in games and why Denver is 42-1 when leading after three quarters this season.
Murray takes the dribble handoff from Jokic, but purposefully reverses the set because Ferguson managed to fight through Jokic’s screen. Once Murray reverses his course, he forces Adams to stick with him because Ferguson overplayed the dribble handoff. That left Jokic rolling to the rim with the help defense of Westbrook coming too late to stop Jokic from hitting an uncontested floater from about five feet out.
Again, what made this assist so noteworthy is the patience Murray shows. He takes an extra second and an extra step with the ball in his hands to force Adams to take an additional step towards him before unleashing a perfect wrap-around pass that hit Jokic perfectly on the roll. Once again, Murray created a big-time bucket when Denver needed one.
Even when the shot clock was getting near zero, Murray continued to make the right decision with the ball in his hands as a playmaker.
Murray is able to get by Ferguson once again in the clip below, but as Westbrook jumps down to provide help defense, Murray has a choice to make. Does he force a contested layup with just under five seconds on the shot clock or does he try to launch a left-handed swing pass to the opposite corner where Harris is waiting wide open.
Clearly, Murray elected to go with the latter.
Not only does that pass require tons of faith in his teammate, but it also requires quite a bit of observation while driving into the paint. With so few seconds left on the shot clock, the easy decision by Murray would be to try to draw a foul by getting to the rim. For Murray to be patient enough to draw Westbrook into the paint is a big deal and it led to Denver creating a wide-open three for one of their best shooters in a tightly contested road game against a division opponent.
Murray finished off the Nuggets win in Oklahoma City the same way he played all night; patient, calculated, decisive and with great decision making. His ninth and final assist of the night set up Paul Millsap, who put the game away with a big 3-pointer with 44 seconds left in regulation with the shot clock all the way down to just about two seconds.
Once again, Murray stayed poised despite the shot clock not being on his side. Every single movement he makes in this one possession is important in its own way.
First, Murray blows by Westbrook who completely takes himself out of the play. Then, Murray dribbles across the free throw line to attract as much attention to himself as possible (considering that Murray was unstoppable in the fourth quarter, the attention he garnered was substantial).
Thanks to Westbrook taking himself completely out of the play, Adams is left guarding both Barton and Millsap as Grant steps up to slow Murray. That is when Murray dribbles directly at Adams which forces Adams to step up to keep Murray from launching yet another jump shot.
So, in the span of about two seconds, Murray managed to occupy three different defenders which resulted in a wide-open 3-pointer for Millsap to virtually seal the Nuggets sweep of the Thunder in the 2018-19 season with four wins and no losses.
This is why when Malone said, “this might have been Jamal’s best game — complete game — in a Nuggets uniform,” he was not embellishing. With each winning play that Murray made, it was hard not to feel like maybe the 22-year-old lead guard was taking another leap forward.
“Yes, we need talent, but we had a young man tonight, for me, really grow up and took a big step in the right direction,” Malone explained after Denver locked in their 10th divisional win in 12 tries.
“Now the challenge is let’s do it every night.”