Jamal Murray
Jamal Murray is undoubtedly the team’s best perimeter player thanks to his combination of ball-handling, shooting touch and aggressiveness. In Game 1 against the Jazz, Murray ended the game by going toe-to-toe with a scorching-hot Donovan Mitchell. The bulked-up Blue Arrow would finish the contest with 36 points on 13-20 shooting from the field and 6-9 shooting from three. He also added nine assists to his box score.
The Nuggets needed everything he gave them to get their win in overtime. After averaging 18.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game during the regular season, he clearly took his game to another level in Game 1 and Denver will continue to need that type of effort from him moving forward.
His 3-point percentage was perhaps the most important aspect of his game on Monday, as there’s a clear correlation between his marksmanship and the team’s wins. Per Basketball Reference, Murray has shot 38.0% from three in the Nuggets’ wins and just 27.2% in their losses. Especially when considering how Denver his struggling to defend the 3-point line, they’ll need to be just as dangerous from beyond the arc as they’re allowing other team’s to be.
Murray’s chemistry and two-man game with Jokic is also another wrinkle that could make the difference for the Nuggets. Of course, the team needs to make sure the rest of the team gets involved but when the going gets tough, that’s a combination that the team can rely on.