Jamal Murray has long been hailed as one of the finest playoff risers of his generation, but he laid an egg as the Minnesota Timberwolves knocked the Denver Nuggets out of the playoffs in the first round. Murray put in a woeful performance in the Nuggets’ 110-98 loss in Game 6 at Target Center on Thursday and was asked postgame about his struggles in this series.
“It’s just on me,” Murray said, via DNVR Sports. “I mean, I think I’ve made, and you guys have seen me make, enough shots where I get into my spots and just unable to convert. So, that’s the frustrating part. They’re playing good defense. All these guys are playing physical, trying to chase me around, and when I get the looks that I need, they don’t go down.
“So, that’s the frustrating part, just not showing up when my team needed me most tonight,” Murray continued. “And feel like if I played a little better, we would have had that game. So, it’s just frustrating on my part. I’ll take accountability for it.”
The Nuggets probably would have won if they had gotten an average performance out of Murray. Nikola Jokic and Cam Johnson had scored 28 and 27 points, respectively, and all that was needed was a decent showing from the Canadian.
Murray, though, finished with just 12 points (4-17 FG), six rebounds, four assists, and one block. Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels managed to shut down the one-time All-Star completely.
McDaniels had also said after Game 2 that Murray and the rest of the Nuggets are bad defenders. The 29-year-old certainly proved him right on this night, as the Timberwolves hunted him on defense and had a lot of success.
The Nuggets should have been able to shut down that Timberwolves offense with Anthony Edwards, Donte DiVincenzo, Ayo Dosunmu, and Kyle Anderson being out, but they were unable to do so. While not having Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson certainly didn’t help, it’s no excuse.
When the Nuggets did get stops, they didn’t get the rebounds. The Timberwolves hauled in 19 offensive rebounds and turned them into 20 second-chance points.
All things considered, this might just have been the worst loss in franchise history. You wonder if the title window has well and truly shut for the Nuggets. They haven’t even gotten to the Western Conference Finals after winning the NBA title in 2023.
Murray was outstanding in that memorable playoff run, but was a shell of himself here. He averaged 23.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game against the Timberwolves, but shot 35.7% from the field and 26.2% from beyond the arc. They’re not going anywhere when he plays like this.
Murray was asked here how far or close the Nuggets are from being a championship team, and he didn’t really have an answer.
“Well, we just need to be better,” Murray said. “Like I said, if I play a little better, I feel like we win the game. And I didn’t. So, I’ll take accountability.”
The manner of this exit opens up the possibility that we have seen Murray play his last game for the Nuggets. You tend to see wholesale changes when a team that was expected to be a serious title contender doesn’t even win a playoff series.
