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Until the fourth quarter of the second round of the Denver Nuggets' first-round series with the San Antonio Spurs, Jamal Murray had been – to put it mildly – not good.
Not only did he shoot 8 of the field 8 times in the first game, but he also missed a mid-distance rider with 9.4 seconds that would have given the Nuggets the advantage and then returned the ball with two seconds left as he tried to run to the ground to try his luck. Denver's defeat in the first game was not wholly attributable to Murray, but he certainly did not step up his efforts when they needed him.
It was not much better in the second match. In fact, the situation worsened, Murray missing his eight attempts throws the first three quarters. As Murray struggled and the Spurs did just about everything they wanted on the offensive, the Nuggets were 19 points behind mid-quarter. At that time, it really seemed that the Spurs were going to play in the second game and win 2-0 before going home to San Antonio, where they had 32-9 this season.
Murray, however, had other ideas. The young goalkeeper has always been a stunner, and for the start of this series he was as good in the fourth quarter. In fact, his recovery may have started at the end of the third quarter, when he arrived at the free throw line and finally saw the ball go through the net.
In any case, he had all the confidence of the world in the fourth quarter, raining rider after rider despite a strong defense of the Spurs. The Spurs did not collapse and lost track of Murray many times; it was an elite shot from Murray. Just look at some of the blows that he made. Fadeaways, unbalanced 3 – no matter what the Spurs did.
Murray finished 8 of 9 on the field during the quarter – equaling the number of shots he's made in the previous seven quarters of the series combined – and scored 21 of his 24 points for the fourth-quarter match . The Spurs, for their part, scored only 23 points as a team in the last 12 minutes.
More important than just highlighting the numbers, Murray had four landmark possessions in the bottom right that equalized the game or gave the Nuggets a lead. The sentence can sometimes be overused, but Murray really put the Nuggets on the back in the fourth quarter.
After the match, head coach Mike Malone made it clear that he never thought of resting Murray during his mini-depression. While he admitted that he had not seen Murray's takeover in the fourth quarter, Malone noted that it was important to show his young leader that he believed in him.
The complete quote from Malone:
"I was going with him, he needs that, it's so important for all our guys, but especially for Jamal, you know, a young third-year player." He was struggling, he was trying to play right, I had not expected the fourth quarter he was going to have, but I knew deep down that he needed those minutes, and I had to show him that I believed in him. It's powerful, if I pull him from him … Does the coach really have his back? So I had to stay with Jamal because he's our guy, and I care about him He was very efficient, and I never thought of removing him from the training. "
It's an impressive quote from Malone, and staying with her young child despite the turn that was taking the situation was also an impressive decision. It would have been more than understandable that Malone go in another direction with the Nuggets down two figures and facing a deficit in the series 2-0. But he trusted his young guard and Murray rewarded him with an epic performance that, at least for the moment, saved the Nuggets season.
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