The whole purpose of the Denver Nuggets running it back is to, you know, make a deep playoff run that will hopefully result in a title. To get there, they need not only Nikola Jokić at his best, but also Jamal Murray. And we've seen that the guard is already playing at a high level to start the season, which is encouraging, but when you think a little deeper, it's also concerning.
Murray torched the Rockets' top-10 defense on Monday, finishing with 38 points on 14-of-23 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 from three in 39 minutes. It was his third-highest-scoring game this season, and the fourth time he's scored 35+ points.
He's not only leading the Nuggets with a team-high 25.8 points per game this season, but he's also bringing it on the defensive end, too. Denver's defensive rating is 112.8 with Murray on the floor and 123.1 with him off, according to databallr. He's doing more than holding his own, and it's not hurting his offensive production.
But is it sustainable?
Jamal Murray is giving the Nuggets everything and more
Denver is over-reliant on Murray and Jokić. That duo combined for 63 of the Nuggets' 100 points against the Rockets, and they only lost by 10. No other player on the roster scored in double digits. Cam Johnson came the closest, shooting 2-of-6 from the field for eight points.
They needed Murray to go nuclear to have a fighting chance. Everyone knows that he can shift into a high gear, particularly in the playoffs, but having to do so out of necessity in November because Denver doesn't have a consistent offensive weapon outside of Murray and Jokić doesn't bode well for the Nuggets.
Murray played 75 games last season for the Nuggets, his highest since 2018-19, when he also played 75. He averaged a career-high 25.4 points on 48.3% shooting from the field and 43.5% from deep, along with 7.1 assists, earning his first All-Star nod. He kept Denver going with the top offense in the league, even as the injuries piled up, including to Jokić, who missed a few weeks.
Murray struggled in the playoffs after a career year
In the playoffs, though, Murray's efficiency tanked, as he shot 35.7% from the field and 26.2% from three. With the season on the line in Game 6, he scored only 12 points on 4-of-17 shooting.
Jaden McDaniels deserves credit for his physicality and the way he guarded Murray. Still, it also looked like the load he carried during the regular season caught up to him as the intensity ramped up in the playoffs.
The front office can't control injuries, but they can take some of the pressure off players like Murray with the moves that they make. It hasn't helped that Aaron Gordon hasn't looked like himself, falling out of line as a reliable No. 3 option. Still, Denver also didn't do itself any favors by making DeMar DeRozan the most noteworthy signing of the summer, either.
No player is ever at 100% when the playoffs roll around because of the demands of an 82-game regular season, but you can try to put them in the best possible position to withstand two months of postseason basketball. That means not running them into the ground during the regular season, risking fatigue, and, even worse, injury.
Murray is doing everything the Nuggets can ask of him, and it's led to a 5-4 start. That's... not great. But what else can he do besides what he's been doing?
If things don't turn around, Denver can look to the trade market for help, possibly using the first-round pick it received in the Peyton Watson trade to add a creator and scorer. A player who can help Murray and the Nuggets get past the regular-season finish line and not collapse right after.
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