Twice this season, Jamal Murray has gone two weeks or longer without appearing in a Nuggets game due to various leg injuries.
One of those absences came to a merciful end for Denver on Saturday night, when Murray returned with 16 points and six assists in a 142-110 win over the Atlanta Hawks at Ball Arena. Denver’s injury reports have described the injury as right knee inflammation, but he has also been managing shin splints in the second half of the season and multiple sprained ankles throughout the year.
Needless to say, the Nuggets (54-24) intend to be careful with Murray the last four games of the regular season, even with the crucial context being that winning out would clinch Denver home-court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs.
“The decision-making process was that I was good to go, and we said that we were gonna play,” Murray said of his return. “And that’s what we did. We did a good job.”
But Murray was on a minutes restriction and might continue to be for these last four games, according to coach Michael Malone. The lopsided win was the ideal backdrop for a return: Murray was well within his limit, playing 20:51 and sitting in the fourth quarter. “I was really thankful I didn’t have to put him back in,” Malone said.
So how will the Nuggets manage him until the playoffs?
“I think probably in the same ballpark as we had tonight,” Malone said. “Obviously he didn’t come close to reaching the minutes restriction, which is a good thing. But yeah, we’ll keep an eye on it. We want to be smart. We want him back. We want him getting a rhythm. It used to be, the season ended on a Wednesday night. And you were playing (a playoff game) on Saturday. The way it is now, you finish and you’ve got a week off. So that’s why I think it’s really important for Jamal to play and find a rhythm. I thought he was pretty good offensively. And I think defensively in that third quarter, Jamal and everyone else out there, that was by far our worst defensive quarter.”
Murray has appeared in only 55 games, leaving him short of the NBA’s new 65-game minimum for end-of-year awards eligibility. But when he plays, he’s averaging 20.9 points and a career-high 6.7 assists. He’s also shooting a career-high 41.9% from 3-point range.
His pregame routine Saturday looked ginger, involving a brief pause to sit on the bench while wearing a pair of wraps, but he shrugged off injury-related questions after the win. The only standout flaw in his performance: He gave away the ball three times, an area he wants to focus on improving in the last week.
“Just less turnovers. I know I’m gonna turn it over, and take risks, and make plays,” he said. “But just trying to control the game. Even today, I wasn’t really aggressive, I just wanted to make sure everybody was in rhythm. And picking my spots. Staying aggressive. Shooting 3s. I thought I shot more than four 3s today.”
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