LOSING PATIENCE
Murray packing box scores, but win column just isn’t following suit
Dejounte Murray walked off the floor at the AT&T Center on Monday night suffering from an acute case of “been there, done that.”
He had played well and stuffed the stat sheet in the Spurs’ 115-111 loss against streaking Phoenix, especially in the second half.
In a familiar story, all those numbers — 18 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds — failed to add up to victory for Murray and his team.
“I don’t give a (bleep) about triple-doubles,” Murray said. “I mean that with everything in me. … I want to win.”
Winning has proved elusive to the young Spurs, even as Murray continues to meat-pack box scores like few others in club history.
Monday marked his third triple-double of the season and the second in the span of eight days. The Spurs are 0-3 in those games.
With seven career triple-doubles, all in the past 11 months, the 25-year-old Murray ranks third on the Spurs’ all-time list.
He is one behind Alvin Robertson for second place and halfway toward matching Hall of Famer David Robinson as the franchise’s tripledouble king.
It took Murray 14 games this season to surpass 250 points, 100 rebounds and 100 assists. No player in Spurs history has reached those totals faster.
And still, the Spurs enter Wednesday’s game against Atlanta at the AT&T Center at 4-12 and riding a five-game losing skid.
Monday, the Spurs suffered another narrow loss to a good team — this time almost fighting back from 18 points down against a Phoenix team that has won 13 games in a row.
“Obviously, we are a young group developing as individuals and as a team,” Murray said. “At the same time, we proved that we belong, that we can play with the best of them.”
But?
“As a competitor, you don’t want to keep using that old, ‘We are right there, we are right there,’ ” Murray said. “Get (bleep) done.”
When it comes to the task of translating box
score stats to the win column, Murray points first at himself.
He leads the Spurs in scoring (18.1 points per game) and assists (eight per game), posting career bests in both categories. His 2.1 steals per game are tied for the fourth-most in the NBA.
As the Spurs’ point guard and longest tenured player, Murray considers himself the team’s leader. It is a designation nobody in the locker room would argue.
That position leads Murray to be hard on himself first.
Take the first half of his latest triple-double.
“I feel like I played (bleepy),” Murray said.
Indeed, little about Murray’s opening two quarters against the Suns will show up on his personal highlight reel.
He was 2 of 10 for four points at halftime and by his own admission did not bring his usual level of activity to the floor against Phoenix’s stud backcourt duo of Devin Booker and Chris Paul.
“Just my energy in the first, it wasn’t where it was supposed to be,” Murray said. “It should never be like that. … I have to be special at all times, being that leader, being that guy. I’ve got to lead by example, not just bringing it for two quarters or three quarters.”
The fact Murray is willing to shoulder the burden and blame on a night he posted a triple-double speaks volumes to his teammates.
“That’s what makes him special and continues to drive him to be great,” guard Derrick White said. “He wants it more and more. He’s our leader and our point guard. We love him and believe in him.”
When coach Gregg Popovich runs down the list of issues plaguing the sliding Spurs, point guard play is not one.
As has often been the case for the Spurs this season — and, really, for the past several — they lost Monday mostly by being outgunned from the 3-point stripe.
The Spurs made 5 of 20 from long range. Phoenix made 12 of 27, earning a 21-point advantage behind the arc.
“That’s game time,” Popovich said. “Turnovers, assists, boards — we played with them. We scored in the paint very well. But we didn’t shoot 3s and that’s the name of the game in today’s NBA.”
It could be argued Murray owns a share of the Spurs’ 3-point struggles. It is the one glaring hole in his game.
Murray went 0-for-3 against the Suns, dragging his season mark to 29.5 percent.
He wasn’t the only Spurs player who failed to find long range Monday. Devin Vassell went 3 of 6. The rest of the team was 2 of 14.
Murray, meanwhile, shook off a lackluster first half in time to keep the Spurs in striking distance.
He was 7 of 10 from the field after intermission, tallying 14 points and 10 assists in the second half.
Murray had 10 points and five assists in the fourth quarter alone, and came up with a clutch steal-and-layup against Paul that brought the Spurs within three points with 11 seconds to go.
“He loves to hoop and he loves to compete,” White said. “If he has a bad start to a game, or whatever, he’s going to come back and compete. That’s what makes him special. He’s been putting up crazy numbers all year.”
That might work out well for fantasy basketball players who roster Murray.
He is still working on transforming those crazy numbers into more wins for his real-life NBA team.
“As competitors, guys are going to work their butts off every day, but I don’t want to be ‘just right there,’ ” Murray said. “I am always trying to find ways to do better, help my team. It’s on me.”