Malone OK with Murray’s conduct
Jamal Murray drew a strong reaction from Lakers coach Luke Walton during and after the Nuggets’ victory Friday night at the Pepsi Center, with Walton screaming at Murray from the bench and later claiming Denver’s secondyear point guard engaged in some “disrespectful” trash talk down the stretch.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone said before Sunday’s 130-104 victory over Sacramento that he has talked to Murray about the matter, but added that he did not have a problem with Murray’s behavior.
“Jamal plays with emotion,” Malone said. “I thought he played well in that game, and it was a big win for us. I didn’t have any issues with Jamal’s play or antics out there.”
Friday’s incident was not the first between the Lakers and Murray, who in December dribbled the ball around prized rookie point guard Lonzo Ball during the final seconds of another Nuggets win. Ball said Friday that Murray is “going to do circus stuff. I’m not feeding into it.” Murray called it playing “with the fire that everybody loves to watch me play with.”
“I can’t control what the other team’s going to feel,” Murray said. “I’m just going to go out there and hoop, and whoever takes it to heart and takes their losses salty, I can’t do anything about that.” Limiting turnovers. The No. 1 priority for the Nuggets entering Sunday was to limit turnovers, after committing a season-high 26 that the Kings turned into 40 points in a Jan. 6 loss at Sacramento that Malone described as one of his team’s worst of the season.
Mission accomplished. Denver turned the ball over only eight times Sunday, its third-fewest of the season, including just two in the first half while building a double-digit lead.
“We were not loose with the ball. We didn’t have stupid mistakes,” big man Nikola Jokic said. “When we don’t turn the ball over, we’re a really good team, because we have really good offense (and) we have a lot of guys who can score.”
Sacramento committed a season-low three turnovers Sunday.
Chandler returns.
After missing Friday’s win over the Lakers because of soreness from an injection received in his hip, Nuggets starting small forward Wilson Chandler put together a solid outing Sunday with 16 points (6-of-9 shooting), six rebounds and three assists.
“(I was) taking the opportunities that were given,” said Chandler, who added that his hip now feels “pretty good” after the extra rest. “Just playing off those guys (like Jokic, Murray and Gary Harris) and being aggressive. (Defenders) are kind of keying in on them.”