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Nuggets squeak by Trail Blazers

By Mathew Huff

DENVER, CO - JANUARY 22: Jamal Murray #27 of the Denver Nuggets celebrates a three point basket to tie the Portland Trail Blazers late in the fourth quarter at the Pepsi Center on January 22, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - JANUARY 22: Jamal Murray #27 of the Denver Nuggets celebrates a three point basket to tie the Portland Trail Blazers late in the fourth quarter at the Pepsi Center on January 22, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images) /
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Thanks to the Blue Arrow, Jamal Murray, the Nuggets got a must win over the division rival Trail Blazers.

The Denver Nuggets are once again back in the thick of things in the Western Conference playoff picture. With a 104-101 win at the Mile High, Denver improves their record to 24-23 which will put them back in competition for the eighth seed.

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The man of the night was Jamal Murray. He had a career night as he came away with an outstanding 38 points which included a go ahead field goal with 33.6 seconds left. Murray was the leader tonight as he also posted a 73.7 field goal percentage and had five rebounds and six assists as well.

Despite a solid performance from Damian Lillard, the star point guard Murray was matched up against, the basketball gods smiled upon the Blue Arrow for this game. I said Jamal was going to be the X factor in this game and sure enough, he was which propelled the team to a much needed victory.

Neither team was really able to get a clear advantage shooting the three in this game. The Nuggets only shot 33% as a team whereas the Trail Blazers only shot 32% from deep. Even though this stat is ugly, it is one of the reasons the game was so close.

It was the starters who stepped up for Denver. When the bench was in, the team faltered in this particular game. All of the starters had a positive box plus/minus. Everyone who played from the second unit on the other hand, had a negative box plus/minus. This is somewhat surprising given the current state of the team as of late.

While the win may have been an ugly, grind it out fest, a win is a win and this one was much needed for the Denver Nuggets.

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