Head coach Michael Malone has the Denver Nuggets out to another strong start this year. Coming out of the all-star break they own the Western Conference’s best record at 41-18. Nikola Jokic is dominating the league once again and is once pace to average a triple-double and win his third straight MVP trophy this season. Luckily for Nuggets fans, their PG Jamal Murry is expected to make his return tomorrow vs the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Murray has missed 14 games this season for the Nuggets and six of them were in a row right before the all-star break. He last played on 2/4 vs the Atlanta Hawks where he had 41/5/7 along with a steal and the 128-108 win. With Nikola Jokic being more of an all-around contributor this season, Murray is averaging more than 20 points per game for the second-straight season.
Colorado Sports Betting sites have the Nuggets at (+750) to win the Finals this season.
Jamal Murray gets hot from the corner after practice.
He’ll speak with the media soon. #MileHighBasketball pic.twitter.com/seAO9KIsOM
— DNVR Nuggets (@DNVR_Nuggets) February 22, 2023
The Nuggets will be happy to have Jamal Murray back in the starting lineup tomorrow
Denver traded away backup PG Bones Hyland before the trade deadline and he was playing (19.5) minutes per game for them this season. Murray is already playing (32.5) minutes per game this season and that number could increase as they do not have a ton of depth at his position.
The former seventh overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft is having another efficient year shooting the ball for his standards. He missed all of last season with an ACL injury, but was averaging a career-high (21.2) points per game in the 2020-21 season. In 45 games played this season he is back to being a 20+ point per game player.
With Denver’s limited depth in the backcourt after the trade deadline, the Nuggets need Jamal Murray to stay healthy for the playoffs. The last time Murray played in the post-season for the Nuggets was the bubble in 2019-20. Murray missed all of last season and also missed the playoffs in the 2020-21 season as well.
He was incredibly dominant in the 2019-20 playoffs where the Nuggets battled the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. In 19 playoff game that season he averaged (26.5) points, (4.8) rebounds, and (6.6) assists per game. Murray was also shooting lights out from everywhere on the court. His three-point was (.453) and field-goal (.505) percentage carried the Nuggets through the playoffs.
