Nikola Jokic may be the big superstar for the Denver Nuggets, but guard Jamal Murray has become a very worthy second star alongside him.
He has come up big in the playoffs dating back to his first postseason appearance, but this year, he has finally gained recognition as a prime-time player.
Although Murray suffered a major floor burn in Denver’s 109-94 Game 3 win in the NBA Finals over the Miami Heat, he says that his father prepared him to deal with the pain and physical burden of a long season.
Jamal Murray sustained a bad floor burn in Game 3.
When he was younger, his dad would have him do pain tolerance drills — including balancing cups of hot tea on his quads while holding a squat — to prepare for moments like this. From NBA Today: pic.twitter.com/q7WNTrLAPt
— Malika Andrews (@malika_andrews) June 8, 2023
During the regular season, Murray has been a good player, averaging 20.0 points and 6.2 assists a game while shooting 45.4 percent from the field.
But he always turns things up big time in the playoffs.
So far in this postseason, he is putting up 27.4 points and 6.8 assists a contest while shooting 48.4 percent overall and 39.6 percent from 3-point range.
This is nothing new for Murray.
In the 2020 playoffs, he averaged 26.5 points per game, and the year before that he was at 21.3 points a game.
In Denver’s Game 3 win, he had 34 points, 10 assists, and 10 rebounds, and it was his eighth game with at least 30 points in this year’s playoffs.
The Nuggets once again look like a team that is very poised to win their first-ever world championship, while the Heat are in trouble, as they face a virtual must-win Game 4.
Murray may not win the NBA Finals MVP award should Denver win it all, but now everyone knows that he is a force to be reckoned with.
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