Over the course of a playoff series, the dynamic between Jamal Murray and an illustrious perimeter defender starts to resemble that of a first baseman and a runner on base, as Murray would describe it.
“It’s funny, because I get some good defenders on me year after year,” he reflected, “and I get to create good relationships with those guys. Getting to play against them, we’re just joking around, going back and forth, taunting, whatever it is.”
In other words, there’s something weirdly chummy about cutthroat competition.
But still with an undercurrent of rancor.
It’s complicated.
Murray responded with a smile Tuesday when asked if he outsources any extra motivation from the fact that his latest dogged defender, Kris Dunn, was drafted ahead of him nine years ago. “One hundred percent,” he said simply. “One hundred percent.”
Murray’s shot-making and showmanship were at their best in Game 5 of Denver’s first-round series, his 43-point performance guiding the Nuggets to a 3-2 lead over the Clippers. It was an announcement of his arrival to the 2025 playoffs, after he lingered around his regular-season scoring average for three games and dipped into inadequacy in the fourth.
“You can kind of tell, the way the ball goes off his hands certain nights,” interim coach David Adelman said. “I thought he had great lift on his jump shot.”
Murray doesn’t forget. He can manufacture a chip on his shoulder as effectively as any professional athlete. Against Dunn, that chip is the size of Canada. The Nuggets picked Murray seventh overall in the 2016 draft, adding a foundational piece of their eventual championship puzzle. Two picks earlier, Dunn was taken by the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The feeling of having been overlooked in a draft is classic, borderline-cliché fuel for athletes. Murray has a full tank of it in this series. In fact, Clippers backup center Ben Simmons was the No. 1 pick in his draft, going to Philadelphia.
“It’s more before (the series),” Murray said when asked when he thinks about those storylines. “We’re just competing. We’re just trying to get the win right now. It’s best out of three. It’s not about making it personal. It’s just, you know, it goes for anybody. Not just (Dunn). But it’s just a competitive spirit. It’s like I said, I like the challenge, and I like to give a challenge, too.”
Murray converted 11 of 17 shots outside of the paint in Denver’s 131-115 win. The Clippers shared in the blame for his eight 3-pointers. He knocked down multiple with Dunn in his face, then others while guarded by a cavalcade of Nicolas Batum, Derrick Jones Jr. and James Harden.
“I thought he came out being aggressive, which we knew he would. That’s why we started off with the blitz against him,” Clippers coach Ty Lue said. “Just to try to slow him down. … And he made every shot. Pull-up 3s. Midrange. We did everything. We dropped, we switched, we did a lot of different coverages. But he had a hell of a game.”
Murray was a release valve for Nikola Jokic on a 4-for-13 shooting night. The Serbian big man tied his career-low for shots made in a playoff game — matching his playoff debut in 2019. When Jokic is a vacuum scorer, it generally doesn’t bode well for the Nuggets. Murray is the opposite. His points are the opposite of an empty stat.
Since he returned from his torn ACL at the start of the 2022-23 season, Denver is 33-4 when he scores 30 points, including the postseason. In his playoff career, the Nuggets are 8-1 when he surpasses 35.
“When he’s complementary of Nikola, it’s great,” Adelman said, “but it sure is nice to have these nights where it’s his show.”
It’s an accurate word choice. Murray is a connoisseur of the game within the game. He plays to the crowd like very few in the NBA can. His expressive face and surly tone lend personality to a low-key Nuggets locker room.
And he’s enthralled by the challenge of solving a top-tier defender for six or seven games, especially when that defender represents a decade-old draft snub.
“There’s times when you’ve gotta roll with the punches. There’s times where you’ve gotta shake it up a little bit and make him react to you. … You’ve just gotta keep him off-balance,” Murray said of facing Dunn. “Probably the best way I can put it. Keep him off-balance. Not give him one look. Give him something to think about. … It’s always fun going against him. And it’s always a battle to go against him. I just have fun with those matchups.”