More offense from Murray helps rev Denver’s motor

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Northwest Division

WLBefore last Sunday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets in NewYork, Nuggets forward Paul Millsap gave some simple advice to JamalMurray. “The more you press, the worse it gets,” the veteran told his young teammate.

“Overthinking” was at the root of Murray’s early- season shooting slump, the Denver point guard says now. But he has snapped out of it in amajorway, averaging 23.3 points over his past three games to help ignite the Nuggets’ offensive resurgence.

“He’s not backing down, and I see his confidence growing in the last four or five games,” coach Michael Malone said. “He’s a different Jamal Murray than we saw earlier in the season.”

Murray shot 60 percent from the floor and 41 percent from 3- point distance against the Nets, NewYork Knicks and Toronto Raptors — three games in which the Nuggets ( 4- 4) scored at least 110 points. That followed a fivegame stretch to start the season in which Murray connected on just 17 of his 59 fieldgoal attempts, including 2- of- 21 shooting behind the arc. It’s the second year in a row Murray struggled early; he missed his first 17 shots as a rookie.

There was nothing mechanically wrong with Murray’s form, he and Malone stressed. Instead, “it was more mental than anything,” the coach said.

Murray drove to the rim when his jumper would not fall, rather than being “a little bit more disciplined in staying with his shot,” Malone said. Murray told Malone at a morning shootaround last week that Murray had turned into the “Broken Arrow.” Murray talked daily with his father, Roger, and received encouragement from teammates such as Millsap, who reminded him to think about winning over scoring.

Still, Malone said Murray’s shooting woes were “the least of my worries.” Malone was most interested to seewhether Murray could play at an aggressive, “downhill” pace while setting up Denver’s free- flowing offense as the new starting point guard. Murray also consistently brought defensive intensity, using his lateral quickness and explosiveness regained after offseason sports hernia surgery to help hold all- stars such as John Wall and KembaWalker to below 50 percent shooting.

And Malone remained set on allowing Murray to play through mistakes, noting that Murray is Denver’s “point guard of the future.”

“If I don’t test him to see how is he going to respond in the thick of it, I’m doing him a disservice,” Malone said.

After that pep talk from Millsap, Murray sighed when he knocked down an early 3pointer against the Nets.

The next night, at Madison Square Garden, he scored all of his 20 points during the Nuggets’ second- half rally against the Knicks. Wednesday against Toronto, he converted multiple coast- to- coast finishes at the rim after knocking over a fan’s beer and popcorn while diving into the stands after a loose ball.

And when Murray drilled a second- half 3pointer against the Raptors, his trademark “Blue Arrow” celebration finally returned.

“When you miss 20 in a row, you tend to get down on yourself. ... Everybody kept telling meto shoot it. You’ve just got to have belief in it,” Murray said.