Going into the playoffs, and really even before that, it was pretty clear that Jamal Murray was going to be the x-factor for the Nuggets. When he and Nikola Jokic are clicking in the two-man game, Denver has proven to be unbeatable in the playoffs, especially with their crunchtime brilliance they've displayed over the years.
The problem is that Murray has had a tendency to be unavailable, or less than 100% physically, when the playoffs roll around. He missed the 2021 and 2022 playoffs recovering from his torn ACL, and he was rushing back from an injury for the 2024 playoffs and wasn’t able to bring it on a nightly basis. The one healthy season in between? Denver won it all in 2023.
This season, Murray was humming for several months, but suffered a calf injury in March that caused him to miss six straight games. It seemed like it was happening again, and Murray had gone down at the worst possible time. He came back for the final two regular-season games, but was easing into things and didn’t shoot well or play heavy minutes.
Denver needs Murray on the floor to have any shot
In game one against the Clippers, Murray looked pretty good at all. He didn’t have a great shooting night, but he made a few big ones down the stretch and played well overall. He finished with 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists, and was a team-high +12 in a whopping 47 minutes.
But therein lies the problem. Playing Murray 47 minutes in a 53-minute game is outrageous. That is not sustainable for a player still nursing a calf injury. The Nugges completely emptied the clip in game one. Luckily, they pulled out the win, but they need to scale things back, or they are not going to last this series, let alone four rounds.
Playing Murray this many minutes is a recipe for disaster
Adelman has a real problem on his hands with the team’s reliance on Murray. But the stats tell the story; in the 47 minutes that Murray was on the court, the Nuggets won by 1, and in the 6 minutes he sat, the team lost by 10. They can’t survive with Jamal off the court, but they also can’t survive with Jamal playing this many minutes.
It’s unlikely that every game will go to overtime, so that should certainly help. And there may be a blowout or two (in either direction), which should provide some natural rest opportunities. But those things can’t be relied upon, there has to be another strategy.
Because if game one is any indication, this could be a long series with intense, nip-and-tuck games that require each team’s best. The Nuggets’ best is dependent on a healthy Murray, so Adelman needs to steal some more minutes from his bench. Whether it’s more Jalen Pickett (he played 4 minutes), or more of Westbrook playing point guard with another wing in the game like Peyton Watson or Julian Strawther, something’s got to give.