The Denver Nuggets face elimination Thursday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder, and their chance of extending the series to force a Game 7 will have to include Jamal Murray playing through an illness.
Murray was listed as questionable on Thursday’s injury report and Denver coach David Adelman told reporters during his pregame availability that Murray is “definitely sick.” Nonetheless, Murray is available. Whether he’s at full-strength is yet to be determined and a diminished Murray is a big concern for the Nuggets with their season on the line.
Thunder vs. Nuggets prediction, pick, odds, time: Game 6 best bet as OKC tries to knock out Nikola Jokić
Sam Quinn
Murray had 28 points in Denver’s Game 5 loss, and while it wasn’t an efficient night for him, he was the only other Nuggets player who provided any quality support to Nikola Jokić, who had 44 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in the loss. Murray is undoubtedly Denver’s second most important player, and when he’s not operating at 100%, it only magnifies the Nuggets’ depth issues.
Murray has had an up-and-down series against the Thunder and how much of an impact he’ll have while dealing with an illness will be something to monitor. In the two games Denver has won, Murray averaged 24 points on 42% from the floor, and in the three losses, he put up 19.6 points on 38.2% from the field. He’s struggled to efficiently score, but so have several of Denver’s players, including Jokić. But whether Murray is efficient or not, the Nuggets absolutely need him on the floor and putting up points if they have any shot at forcing a Game 7.
The Nuggets are a five-point underdog at home on FanDuel, and the point spread hasn’t moved since Murray was officially declared active.
Outside of Murray, the Nuggets need more from the likes of Michael Porter Jr. and Christian Braun, who combined for just 10 points on 4 of 19 from the floor. Porter Jr. is playing through a shoulder injury, which has certainly impacted his shooting, and Braun — as impressive as his development has been this season — is probably playing above his weight class in the starting lineup. But after Denver let Kentavious Caldwell-Pope walk last summer, Braun was their best internal replacement. He made significant strides, averaging nearly 16 points in the regular season, but in the playoffs, that number has fallen to 11.3 points and his efficiency has fallen dramatically to 43%, far below the 58% he was averaging this season.
If Murray is not operating at 100%, it will put more pressure on Braun, Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon to step up their game and ensure Jokić isn’t doing it all by himself again.