Murray’s 16-for-16 night at line lifts Nuggets in Game 1 win
DENVER — Jamal Murray has established himself as an elite playoff performer because the Nuggets‘ title window started in 2023, however his finest moments have typically come late in video games with clutch shot-making.
In Saturday night’s 116-105 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves In Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round playoff sequence, Murray was devastating from the free throw line, making all 16 of his makes an attempt to interrupt a franchise report, and completed with a game-high 30 factors.
“I thought I got fouled on every single one of them,” Murray stated. “I don’t know what everyone’s talking about. [They were] real fouls.”
The Nuggets made 30 of their 33 free throws in the sport, and that success was vital as a result of they shot 1-for-17 behind the 3-point arc in the second half and will simply have squandered the 15-point lead they constructed in the third quarter.
Instead, Denver held on for a gritty win at house to take a 1-0 lead in the sequence, the eighth time the Nuggets have taken a lead in 9 sequence openers since 2023. Denver has received six of the seven earlier sequence in which they took Game 1.
In the tightly contested Nuggets-Timberwolves rivalry — the groups have performed one another extra instances through the previous three years than another two groups in the NBA — each edge issues. After taking Game 1, Denver holds a 15-14 report in opposition to Minnesota in the common season and playoffs since 2023.
That previous has served as an enchanting prologue for this sequence, which each side count on to be a taut battle as soon as once more.
“The first game, everybody’s got so much adrenaline,” Murray stated. “Everybody’s excited. Everybody’s a little bit nervous. Some butterflies, which is human. I go back and I look at all my Game 1s that I’ve played, and I just remember having so much energy. I remember we played the San Antonio Spurs one year. I got a steal first play of the game, and I pulled up from the logo. I was like, ‘I’m just so excited.’
“So I simply discovered through the years, simply having the ability to chill out and simply play one other sport and figuring out that I’m going to play a lot of the sport. I’m not going to need to look or hunt photographs, the sport’s simply going to come back to me. So it is a totally different mindset. I believe that permits me to make each free throw or simply play at my tempo.”
That mindset has helped Murray to his finest, most consistent individual season, averaging career highs in points, rebounds, assists and 3-point field goal percentage. He ranked second in total clutch-time points this season and was the only player to average at least 25 points and seven assists and shoot 40% from 3.
He has been a steadying force all season for the third-seeded Nuggets, who have needed him more than ever as costars Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon every missed giant chunks of the season due to accidents.
