After turning in a statement performance in the Nuggets’ Game 2 win over the Lakers, Jamal Murray stamped his big night with a strong message to those still questioning his game since his return from injury.
The veteran guard logged a 23-point fourth quarter and finished with a game-high 37 points on Thursday to propel Denver to a 2–0 lead in the Western Conference finals. Murray’s red-hot performance boosted his playoff scoring average to a career-best 27.2 PPG–a strong sign the 26-year-old has come a long way from the torn ACL that sidelined him for 18 months until this past October.
Speaking with ESPN’s Andscape after the game, Murray shared his thoughts on how he feels he’s viewed around the NBA when stacked up against his peers. In his eyes, Murray said the proper respect has been long overdue, as the former first-round pick believes his talent should place him in the conversation for best players in the league.
“I don’t think I get enough respect as I should be,” Murray told Andscape’s Marc J. Spears. “I’m better than a lot of players in the league. Every time I see rankings of guys I think, ‘Man, that is crazy.’ Maybe it’s because I have been out for so long. But if we win the chip, it changes everything.”
Murray’s hot take, or accurate assessment–depending on who you ask–comes at a time where he has looked like the second-best player in the conference finals next to teammate and two-time MVP Nikola Jokić.
Through two games against L.A., Murray has displayed his full bag of tricks and thoroughly outplayed an opponent Denver lost to in the 2020 West finals. This version of Murray has been a welcome sight after the momentum he built with his memorable 2020 postseason run was abruptly halted by his ACL injury in April 2021, an ailment that caused him to miss the Nuggets’ eventual first-round playoff exit and the entire 2021–22 season.
Fast forward to now and Murray, despite never being named an All-Star, has played like one of the game’s best to help position his franchise within two wins of its first trip to the NBA finals. And, if Denver manages to go all the way, the triumph would, according to Murray, swiftly silence any remaining doubters.
“I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves,” he told Spears. “We want to focus on the moment. Focus on each game. If we get to the Finals, we get to the Finals and make history. But we have more to do to win the chip and shut everybody up.”
With the Nuggets in the driver’s seat, Murray, Jokić and Co. will have a chance to take further command of the series with a win in Saturday’s Game 3. Murray, who averaged 20 PPG in 65 regular-season games, will look to build on his strong playoffs in the matchup after averaging 34 points, 7.5 rebounds, and five assists through Games 1 and 2.
