Jamal Murray has not had quite the season fans were hoping to see after inking a max deal in the offseason. Inconsistent play and nagging injuries attributed to a slow start to the year for the combo guard. As a result, it also resulted in some key losses for the Denver Nuggets. However, Murray has started to heat up recently and it has equated into Denver looking like a title contender. Murray himself is not blind to his faults and even admitted he deserves some of the scrutiny while embracing the new expectations.
“I’m totally ready for it,” Murray said. “That’s why I literally signed up for it.”
“I think I deserve it, to a certain extent,” Murray said about extra scrutiny after signing his max extension. “So, I’m not gonna complain about it. And that’s what people do. They’re gonna talk about what they see. And if they don’t see me performing the way they want me to perform as a fan, they’re gonna let me hear it, or tweet about it or whatever they’re doing. I mean, I admit I haven’t been playing well. So, it’s not like it’s a surprise to me to hear it from everybody else if I’m saying it as well.”
Jamal Murray Embracing New Expectations With New Contract
Jamal Murray Improving Over the Course of Past Five Games
Over the course of the past five matchups, the Nuggets are starting to see glimpses of “Playoff Murray.” In the last five games, Murray has tallied 26.6 points, 5.0 assists, and 3.4 rebounds per game while shooting 54.1 percent from the field. Murray is also shooting 42.4 percent from three-point range in the past five matchups while giving Denver’s offense the extra element they’ve been waiting for all season. If Jamal Murray can keep up this type of production going forward, then one should not sleep on the Nuggets especially since they still have the best player in the world in Nikola Jokic. However, Jamal Murray is going to be the x-factor for the team.
Denver Nuggets Starting to Remember Who They Are
The Nuggets have started to heat up since the new year. In the past 10 games, the team is 7-3 and looking more and more like the 2023 versions of themselves that won the NBA Finals. Their team defense has certainly stepped up and the new-look starting lineup with Russell Westbrook seems to have solved many issues that plagued the team at the beginning of the season. Not to mention, with Aaron Gordon now coming off the bench, the second unit is starting to look serviceable. All in all, do not sleep on the Denver Nuggets as the playoffs get closer and closer.
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