Jamal Murray used the Nuggets\u2019 home opener to continue his quest to change the narrative around the way he starts seasons.<\/p>\n
After Denver\u2019s 133-111 win over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday, Murray acknowledged the story surrounding him being a slow starter had gotten a little stale.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why I wanted to come out and have a good November, October \u2013 whatever it is,\u201d Murray said.<\/p>\n
Nuggets coach David Adelman admitted he\u2019s had a conversation with Murray about starting seasons stronger. It\u2019s part of the reason why he\u2019s never been an All-Star, though he has plenty of other accolades that lots of All-Stars don\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past, he\u2019s had starts that were OK. I think everyone was really into the numbers back then. Now that we\u2019ve won, I just think it\u2019s more about just the mentality of how he\u2019s playing \u2013 not chasing the numbers or you feel pressure before contracts or \u2018Why haven\u2019t you been an All-Star,\u201d Adelman said. \u201cSome of those questions are kind of ridiculous to me, because how many All-Stars haven\u2019t won championships. How many All-Stars don\u2019t have a triple-double in the Finals? How many All-Stars don\u2019t have three 50-point playoff games or whatever the hell he has. Ask that question sometimes, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The numbers do support the narrative. Murray\u2019s points per game in October (14.9) and November (16.3) are lower than the other months. His 19.9 points in February, typically when the All-Star Game is held, is the highest, and it\u2019s bookended by 18.7 points per game in January and March. The shooting percentages follow a similar trend with the new year unofficially starting the surge. A new coach could mean a fresh start in more ways than one.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has a lot of trust in not just myself but everybody. He gives a lot of freedom to guys. (He) hears you out, has a lot of play calls. He\u2019s an offensive genius,\u201d Murray said. \u201c<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s just a really cool guy, honestly. I\u2019m happy to play for him. With our offensive coach now being our coach is going to be really helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Murray led the Nuggets with 23 points and did so on 8-of-17 shooting from the field. He made 3 of 8 attempts from 3-point range and hit all four of his free throws. He missed his first three attempts from 3-point range but drained a 55-foot heave to beat the first-quarter buzzer. Nikola Jokic was taking those shots before the NBA changed the rule so missed heaves don\u2019t hurt an individual player\u2019s shooting percentage.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never know when the ball is going to go in,\u201d Jokic said. \u201cI think it\u2019s a momentum changing. It can really affect the game in that specific moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Denver\u2019s 28-year-old point guard added six rebounds, five assists and a steal in 32 minutes of playing time.<\/p>\n
The scoring punch was even more welcome on a night Jokic wasn\u2019t exactly looking for his shot. Jokic made the only shot he took in the first half and finished with 14 points, 14 rebounds and 15 assists while taking just eight shots. Christian Braun (20), Aaron Gordon (17) and Cameron Johnson (15) made sure all five starters scored in double figures, while Jonas Valanciunas (12) and Bruce Brown (11) gave the Nuggets two double-figures scorers off the bench.<\/p>\n
Phoenix\u2019s four-time All-Star, Devin Booker, led all scorers with 31 points, but Murray led his squad to the win.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, he doesn\u2019t go to the glorified pick-up game, but the guy is a champion and one of the best players of this generation,\u201d Adelman said.<\/p>\n
NUGGETS 133, SUNS 111<\/p>\n
What happened: Denver led by six after the first quarter and extended the advantage to 71-54 by halftime. It remained a 17-point game to start the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
What went right: The Nuggets committed just one turnover in the first half, and Phoenix failed to score on the ensuing possession. Denver turned 10 Phoenix turnovers into 14 points before halftime.<\/p>\n
What went wrong: The Nuggets got a little sloppy in the third quarter. Phoenix scored 13 of its 29 points off of eight Nuggets turnovers in the third. Nikola Jokic committed three of those turnovers.<\/p>\n
Highlight of the night: Jamal Murray drained a half-courter at the end of the first quarter; Peyton Watson threw down a poster dunk over Phoenix\u2019s 7-foot-1 center Khaman Maluach, but no play was better than Aaron Gordon\u2019s 360-degree finish off a lob from Nikola Jokic late in the second quarter.<\/p>\n
Up next: The Nuggets are off to Minnesota for Monday\u2019s matchup with the Timberwolves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jamal Murray used the Nuggets\u2019 home opener to continue his quest to change the narrative around the way…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241048,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-241047","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241047\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}