Canada's Murray expected to play key role in Nuggets' title bid

TORONTO — By sweeping away the Los Angeles Lakers last week, Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets franchise both made the NBA Finals for the first time.

Murray, who hails from Kitchener, Ont., is the second straight Canadian to reach the NBA Finals and like Andrew Wiggins (Vaughan) last year, should have a huge affect the series.

When Golden State beat Boston in 2022, Wiggins — only the second Canadian to ever be drafted first overall — starred, averaging 18.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists in the six-game triumph. While Stephen Curry was the unanimous Finals MVP, just as Murray's teammate Nikola Jokic is the leading contender to be this year, Wiggins was second on Golden State in scoring in that series, second among players on either team in blocks and led everyone in rebounds.

The Finals turned in by Wiggins was the best ever by a Canadian. Tristan Thompson (Brampton, Ont.) also has a strong record when the stakes are the highest, averaging 8.6 points and nine rebounds in 22 games for Cleveland, which included one title win over Golden State.

It would be a surprise, given how he has played in these playoffs, for Murray not to surpass both Wiggins and Thompson when the Nuggets take on either Miami or Boston starting later this week. While Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Hamilton) currently holds the title of best Canadian player (by virtue of his fifth place finish in MVP voting and his spot on the All-NBA first team), Murray has already put his stamp on this season and can earn bragging rights as an NBA champion.

Should that happen, Murray would become just the 10th Canadian to achieve the feat. He would join Wiggins, Thompson, Cory Joseph (Pickering, Ont., who won with the San Antonio Spurs), Joel Anthony (Montreal, who triumphed with the Miami Heat), Rick Fox (Toronto-born, averaged 7.6 points and 3.4 rebounds in the Finals as part of the Shaquille O'Neal/Kobe Bryant dynasty), Chris Boucher (Montreal, who got a ring, but did not play that post-season for the Raptors) and backup centres Bill Wennington (Montreal, who played for Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls) and Mike Smrek (Welland, Ont., who backed up Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the Lakers).

Murray already joins the much shorter list of Canadian starters to make the Finals, which only includes Wiggins, Thompson, Anthony, Fox and Winnipeg's Todd MacCulloch (New Jersey Nets).