But given that the Nuggets are scuffling, there’s an urgency to establish momentum before the playoffs arrive. Both injuries raise red flags, for obvious reasons. In recent weeks, Murray’s dealt with right knee inflammation, and several games ago, wasn’t able to finish a game due to left knee soreness. “(Malone’s) watching, so maybe when he sees me playing defense, he knows I’m gonna be more into the game,” Murray said of one side of the game bleeding into the other. Those were the type of possessions that hurt Denver on Saturday and the type that need to be eliminated before the postseason begins. In another example though, after Murray forced a miss early in the game, he leaked out early only to let Brunson recover and bury a second-chance 3-pointer. But there were a handful of chances where his defense, boosted by quality resistance, was sound on the burly guard. Murray wasn’t the primary defender on Jalen Brunson, who swerved through Denver’s defense for 24 points on Saturday afternoon. “I wanna see that Jamal Murray,” Malone said. Malone said the best version he’d ever seen of Murray was the one in the Bubble, where, despite Murray’s prolific scoring, he had too much pride to allow for a double-team on a player such as Kawhi Leonard.

“Get back to playing defense,” he told him. Prior to Thursday’s win over Detroit, Malone reinforced that side of the ball to his star point guard. For Malone, his constant challenge to Murray is on the defensive end. Malone has seen more than enough from Murray in his years to believe that those shots, on good looks, will start to drop. Ironically, though, it’s not the offense that has Nuggets coach Michael Malone’s eye. In the last six games, Murray’s shooting just 38% from the field and 34% from the 3-point line. Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close MenuĮven though Murray started to emerge from his mini-slump against the Knicks, which has, unsurprisingly, coincided with Denver’s recent slide, he’s still facing an uphill battle as the playoffs approach.

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