The bubble boy has returned
Kitchener’s Jamal Murray looking much like he did in 2020 post-season
It all came back to Jamal Murray, those innocent times when he’d be firing up shots on his own, his imagination taking the youngster from Kitchener to unimaginable basketball heights.
He looked over at the broadcast table in Denver’s Ball Arena, having cemented one of the most important wins in Nuggets franchise history with a clutch three-pointer, and saw the iconic play-by-play man Mike Breen.
“Bang!” Murray said as the arena went crazy, invoking one of Breen’s signature calls.
Just like he did on his own all those years ago.
“When I was little, I used to count down the seconds off the shot clock and make the shot, and talk like Marv Albert and talk like Mike Breen, just the imagination running as a kid,” Murray told reporters after Denver’s 108-103 win Thursday that gave the Nuggets a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series over the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA’s Western Conference final.
“When you get in that moment and you see your fam in the crowd — see your little brother, see Mike Breen there, all these little reminders — they all pay dividends. And make that moment a little more special.”
For Murray, Thursday was one of the more special nights in a career that’s had more than its share of them. He overcame a terrible first half and caught fire in the fourth quarter, scoring 23 of his 37 points in the final 12 minutes to lead the Nuggets to a significant win.
It’s hard not to root for Murray, regardless of his obvious allure to Canadian fans. The 26-year-old guard was one of the National Basketball Association’s most impressive young players when he blew out an ACL in 2021, and the road back has not been seamless. Aside from the arduous physical work necessary to reclaim his spot in the league, the mental aspect of the rehabilitation was a challenge. It took the six-foot-three guard a long time to trust his knee again; he’s well past that now, as these playoffs are proving. And his value to the Nuggets can’t be understated.
“This is not just coach and player,” Denver coach Michael Malone said after Game 2 of the Lakers series. “I love Jamal Murray. We’ve been together seven years and been through a lot of ups and downs and, to see him back playing at the level he’s playing at, the first thought for me is just tremendous pride and just so happy for him, because I saw the dark days coming back from that ACL. For him to be here playing at the level that he’s playing at is just — I’m just so happy for the man.”
Murray and teammate Nikola Jokic have outplayed Lakers allstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis through two games as the Nuggets try to make the NBA finals for the first time in franchise history.
There’s plenty of time left for the Lakers to get back in the series — the next two games are in L.A. on Saturday and Monday — and much of the narrative will surround them rather than Denver. That’s fine with the Nuggets, who are playing the “no respect” card often.
“The outside noise is the outside noise,” Murray said. “We’re the Denver Nuggets; we’re used to that. Even when we win, they talk about the other team.
“We beat the Clippers in the bubble, they talk about the other team. Same old, same old. It fuels us a little more and will be sweeter when we win the (title).”
The 2020 playoff bubble was, in many ways, Murray’s coming out party. He was dominant in Denver’s run to a conference final, where they lost to the eventual champion Lakers.
It’s brought up often when the discussion centres on Murray because of how good he was in the bubble. He averaged 26.5 points per game, with 45.3 per cent shooting from three-point range, and 6.6 assists in that 2020 summer in Orlando. So far in the 2023 playoffs, he’s averaging 27.2 points, shooting 40.8 per cent from three and dishing out 6.2 assists per game.
“I’ve been waiting for a while to be healthy,” he said earlier in the postseason.
He is. “The bubble is, what, 2020? And it’s 2023? I’m coming off injury and I’m playing decent,” he said. “I think the years speak for itself, coming off injury and be able to come back to (this) level at least and play this way.
“I think I don’t really need to comment on it as much anymore.”
‘‘ The bubble is, what, 2020? And it’s 2023? I’m coming off injury and I’m playing decent.
JAMAL MURRAY DENVER NUGGETS