For the second time in a first-round series that is now over, Jamal Murray has hit a game-winning jumper — this one to send the Los Angeles Lakers home for the summer and the Denver Nuggets into the second round with a 108-106 victory in Game 5 on Monday.
Denver, who moves on to play the second-seeded Timberwolves, officially wins the series 4-1, but it was a much closer game than that tally would indicate.
After LeBron James knocked down a pair of free throws to tie the game with 26 seconds remaining, Murray went to work off a high ball screen from Nikola Jokic that got him going downhill to his left. He planted just inside the free-throw line and faded slightly to create space. That was all he needed. Bottoms.
Murray, who was a game-time decision with a calf strain, was extraordinary all night. He finished with 32 points and seven assists. He made five of his 10 3-pointers. He scored 12 fourth-quarter points, including nine within the final four minutes. There is not a more clutch basketball player in the world than Murray. If you feel like arguing that, you haven’t been watching. He’s been at this for quite a while now.
“For Jamal to add to his playoff lore by having two game winners in a series, it’s just incredible,” said Nuggets coach Michael Malone, who noted that he had the “utmost confidence” in Murray and Jokic working their patented two-man action on the final possession, which is why he elected not to call a timeout.
“The kid’s a warrior,” Malone continued in praise of Murray. “I can’t say enough good things about Jamal Murray. The bigger the moment, the kid just continues to shine. I’m proud of him. [He’s] one tough cookie.”
If you need a refresher on what Murray did to the Lakers in Game 2, here you go:
Murray is the fourth player in NBA history to hit two go-ahead shots inside the final five seconds in the same postseason. He is the only player to do so in the same series. He’ll have at least one more round, versus the aforementioned Timberwolves, to become the only player to make three game-winners in a single postseason.
It’s an unlikely feat, but I wouldn’t put it past him. There has never been another player like Murray, who goes from a good regular-season player to an all-time great in the playoffs.
Yes, I’m saying that. Murray qualifies as an all-time great postseason performer. That shouldn’t even be a controversial statement.
For his career, Murray, who has never made an All-Star team, averages 17.5 points per game in the regular season. In the postseason, that numbers rockets up to 24.8 PPG. That is an extreme scoring leap, and potentially one of the biggest in history. Simply put, this is the definition of a big-stage performer.
Murray, of course, could do more in the regular season if he needed to. The Nuggets are just so well oiled and Jokic is so great that the necessity isn’t there. In the playoffs, where shot creation becomes an even more important attribute, Murray becomes the late-game go-to guy even with a probably soon-to-be three-time MVP beside him. That’s how great he is.
Again, if you’ve been watching Murray throughout his career, I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. But if you haven’t, well, now you know. Jamal Murray is a stone-cold killer.
