Jamal Murray had a night to remember. He went into the All-Star break with a statement performance against the division rival, Portland Trail Blazers. In the win over Portland, Murray poured in a career-high 55 points. He started off scorching hot by scoring 30 first half points. He did not miss a beat in the second half as he stayed aggressive and continued searching for his shot while playing within the flow of the offense. It was also Serbian Heritage Night at Ball Arena and Nikola Jokic impressed by recording yet another triple-double. A stat-line of 26 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists to be exact. However, the night became about Jamal Murray as he is starting to look like the player who earned a $209 million max contract extension this past summer.
Jamal Murray Records Career-High 55 Points in Win Over Portland Trail Blazers
Jamal Murray’s Night
While the 55 points are certainly impressive, it was how he earned them that is most impressive. Jamal Murray is starting to look more and more fluid as of late. As a result, his legs are getting under him again and the deadly two-man game with he and Nikola Jokic is starting to take effect. Murray is especially making his living in the mid-range game and is starting to make easy floaters that he was unable to convert at the beginning of the season. Not to mention, he is starting to hit more shots from beyond the arc. A facet that adds a much-needed wrinkle to Denver’s offensive attack. It was not until he knew he was getting close to his original career-high mark of 50 points that the former Kentucky Wildcat started searching for his shot a little too much early in the fourth quarter.
However, he was smart enough to know when to go back to facilitating the offense and let the flow of the game come to him. Especially with the Trail Blazers cutting the lead down to nine points at one point in the fourth quarter. Jamal Murray looks like he is in playing shape again which will bode very well for Denver in the final stretch of the regular season. Especially when one considers how his production increases ten-fold come playoff time. The Nuggets will go into the All-Star break on an eight-game win-streak and as arguably the hottest team in the Association. They will also have key rotational players coming back from injury soon. Considering all of this, one should not sleep on Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets post All-Star break.
