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The Denver Nuggets can only go as far as Nikola Jokic takes them, but Jokic can only do so much if his teammates don't provide him with the requisite support. But Jokic got more than just support on Tuesday night in the crucial Game 5 of their first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers, as he took a backseat and let Jamal Murray, who's gone through his fair share of criticisms and injury woes this season, cook in a 131-115 win that gave them a 3-2 series lead.
Murray went bonkers from beyond the arc, nailing eight of his 14 attempts on the night, and all night long, it was clear that he was in rhythm and perhaps woke up on the right side of the bed this morning. He finished with 43 points, giving him his sixth 40-point playoff game (the most in Nuggets history, even more than Jokic), and he made plenty of crucial shots to keep a Clippers team that was trying to mount another comeback at bay.
The Nuggets guard has built a reputation for himself over the years for being a better performer in the playoffs than in the regular season, and interim head coach David Adelman gave an apt description of just how dominant Murray can be when he has everything going his way.
“He was born for this. Let’s face it, some of the shots he made tonight were just absurd,” Adelman said in his postgame presser, via Ryan Blackburn of Mile High Sports.
Playoff Jamal Murray rises to the occasion yet again for the Nuggets
Jamal Murray is one of the biggest playoff risers in today's NBA, and this is not the first time that he has torched the Clippers to this degree. In Game 7 of the Nuggets' second-round matchup against the Clippers in 2020, Murray put up 40 points to seal the 3-1 comeback. It looks like this version of Murray is making another appearance as the Nuggets look to put away the Clippers for good yet again.
When Murray has it going for him the way he did on Tuesday night, the only hope for the defense is that he misses. He made plenty of insane off-the-dribble shots that were heavily contested, and he proved to be the number one difference maker on a night where his Nuggets came to within just one win of booking their place in a second-round matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
