Denver Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray missed Saturday's game against the Miami Heat due to a hamstring injury.
It seems the hamstring is still giving Murray issues.
The former Kentucky star said Sunday he is still feeling sore, so there's a chance he also misses Monday's game against the Oklahoma City Thunder:
Jamal Murray said today that his hamstring is still bothering him, so I doubt that he plays tomorrow vs. OKC. He’s not sure when the injury occurred.
— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) August 2, 2020
Murray says he does not know exactly when the injury occurred, though he wonders whether he might have tweaked something getting in some individual work:
Jamal Murray on when his injury happened: “We didn’t have our whole team here unfortunately when we left for Orlando. So we did a lot of 3-on-3, 4-on-4, a lot of lifting, a lot of individual stuff, and maybe that was a factor in it. I’m not sure. Kind of unclear when it started.”
— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) August 2, 2020
In any case, the Nuggets might be without their star guard for a second consecutive game on Monday,
Denver was washed by the Heat on Saturday, losing 125-105 despite holding a one-point lead at the break. The Nuggets were outscored 38-22 in the third quarter, and Miami eased its way to a victory as six different players scored in double figures.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets struggled to find their own offensive spark. PJ Dozier saw added minutes in Murray's absence, but he shot just 3-for-11 from the field and was minus-10 in just over 16 minutes off the bench.
Denver was fortunate the Utah Jazz also dropped their contest against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday, though OKC now trails the Nuggets by just 1.5 games for the third seed in the Western Conference.
Of course, other than matchups, seeding might not mean quite as much given the absence of home-court advantage in Orlando.
However, the Nuggets might be hard-pressed to make a deep run without Murray, their-second leading scorer and assist man on the year. The guard is averaging 18.8 points and 4.8 assists on the season.
Denver will need more out of its bench and Monte Morris if Murray continues to sit. It's also unclear when Gary Harris and Will Barton will be back in the lineup, so the Nuggets are facing some adversity in the bubble.
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