There are too many storylines emerging for the Nuggets and Clippers first-round playoff series that it’s getting hard to keep track. The big-man battle between Nikola Jokic and Ivica Zubac will certainly get plenty of run. People will be talking about James Harden and his playoff struggles, Kawhi Leonard and his ability to stay on the court, and Russell Westbrook and his quest to make a playoff impact.
David Adelman will be making his playoff head coaching debut as the most inexperienced coach ever in a playoff game with just three regular-season tilts under his belt. Heck, the first playoff games in Steve Ballmer’s brand new, state-of-the-art Intuit Dome will surely even get plenty of publicity.
But one storyline that’s flying under the radar is Jamal Murray and his matchup with the Clippers. Dating all the way back to the last playoff meeting between these teams in the 2020 playoffs, the Nuggets have had a consistent theme; when Murray plays to his potential, the team is extremely hard to beat.
How healthy is Jamal Murray?
Unfortunately, health has been Murray’s undoing and since that magical bubble run to the conference finals, Denver hasn’t had much luck in that regard. Murray tore his ACL in April of 2021, missing that season’s playoffs and the entire following season. The Nuggets were bounced fairly easily in both years.
We all know what happened in the 2022-23 season; Jamal was healthy, had an incredible playoff run, and the Nuggets won their first title in franchise history. Last season, Murray again suffered an injury before the playoffs, rushed back but wasn’t 100% and the team got bounced in round two.
This season we got quite the scare. Murray suffered a hamstring injury in late March and Michael Malone hinted that it was a serious injury and his playoff status was in doubt. Murray returned on Friday night, playing 31 minutes and scoring 15 points with 7 assists. He played again on Sunday for 24 minutes (before the game got out of hand) and had another solid, but not great showing.
Murray looked pretty good health-wise and having this whole week off should help even more. We won’t fully know his status until he’s out there in a playoff setting logging major minutes. But if his hamstring can’t hold up and he can’t make the best version of Jamal Murray, the Nuggets are in big trouble.
Murray will be tested early and often on defense
Murray’s health concerns are no secret and Ty Lue and his Clippers team won’t hold back in attacking Jamal. Frankly, even at full health, Murray would be getting targeted and he will have to be able to hold up on that end of the floor. He will have opportunities to try and hide on bigger players like Derrick Jones Jr. at times and he should be able to hold up okay against Kris Dunn.
But he’s also going to have to do his fair share of chasing around real scoring and shooting threats like Bogdan Bogdanovic and Norman Powell. On top of that, isolation and pick-and-roll assassins James Harden and Kawhi Leonard are going to be seeking out Murray in switches relentlessly.
The Clippers are going to make Murray prove that he is 100% healthy and whether he is or not, they are going to pick at him like a scab and hope that he bleeds. Jamal is going to have to be strong and be at his absolute best defensively for the entirety of this series. On top of that, he’s going to have to do it while preserving enough energy to be a difference-maker on offense. We know Murray is capable, but he has his work cut out for him.
Murray-Jokic 2-man game must be fully operational
Jokic makes the offense great no matter what, but when it’s truly elite, especially in crunch time, it’s when Jokic and Murray are operating in tandem at full capacity. We’ve seen it sparsely this season but it’s still the Nuggets’ best offense and one of the most unguardable dynamics in the entire league.
We saw it down the stretch of the team’s big win over the Grizzlies on Friday night and it was a sight for sore eyes. They broke down the Memphis defense and pulled away in the clutch, something that used to be a staple of this offense.
The Nuggets need to get back to that point and they need to be funneling offense through these two for as many possessions as possible, but especially at the end of close games. It’s a weapon unlike any other in the league, and it’s time to fully unleash it. If Murray can give us a vintage performance, the Nuggets have a great chance to win this series.