Jamal Murray cementing himself among NBA’s elite

The list of the NBA’s elite point guards typically don’t include Jamal Murray, but it’s time that changed.

Jamal Murray has been one of the five best players in the first round of the playoffs to this point. In what has continued to be an impossibly bizarre season between a worldwide pandemic stripping the sport of its fans and teams boycotting playoff games, Murray has maintained a ridiculously high level of play.

Murray was a bit of a late bloomer. He was the seventh overall pick in the 2016 draft, but didn’t begin to make a name for himself until two years ago when the Nuggets continued their gradual ascension between him and Nikola Jokic. Now, Murray is unquestionably a top ten talent at the position and at just 23 years old, he is one of the most coveted young stars in the NBA.

Murray exploded in the second half of game five to keep Denver alive by scoring 33 points and almost singlehandedly willed his team towards a game six against the Utah Jazz. Kyrie Irving‘s injuries and history of being a notoriously difficult teammate has hurt his stock some, just as Russell Westbrook‘s often underwhelming playoff performances have knocked him down the list.

Meanwhile, James Harden and Luka Doncic have cemented themselves as two of the best all-around combo guards offensively, while Murray continues to assert himself on the defensive end. Murray averages a steal a game and is constantly creating deflections and has been lauded by his head coach for being a good all around team defender.

Murray is going toe-to-toe with the scorching hot Donovan Mitchell, who rained down 57 points on the Nuggets in game one. Now that all games have been pushed back by at least a day, it is worth wondering whether or not Murray’s offensive rhythm will be disrupted. If it doesn’t, it will prove that he remains a top ten, and possibly top ten point guard in the NBA.