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Prior to the start of their series, Anthony Edwards declared that the Nuggets are not good without Jamal Murray.
During the opening seconds of Saturday night’s matchup, the Minnesota star guard was determined to prove his point.
As the shot clock trickled down on Denver’s opening possession, Murray tried to dance around Edwards but couldn’t break loose. Edwards put the clamps on Murray, preventing the Nuggets point guard from moving left before Denver was called for an offensive three second violation.
In Denver’s 106-99 loss to the Timberwolves in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals, Murray went scoreless in the first half. Nuggets head coach Michael Malone revealed after the game that he didn’t practice the entire week while nursing a calf injury — shedding some light on Murray’s rusty start. But that shouldn’t dismiss Minnesota’s defensive effort on Murray that was essential in taking a 1-0 series lead.
“(Murray) couldn’t make a shot,” Malone said.
Edwards strapping up Murray to start the game was only the beginning. Murray missed three straight shots before getting sent to the bench as Denver faced an 18-4 deficit with 5:12 to go in the first quarter. The Timberwolves did a solid job at switching up coverages on Murray, putting different defenders on him.
Early in the second quarter, it was Minnesota guard Michael Conley Jr.’s turn. As Murray tried to back down the veteran guard, Conley stood firm. Once Murray realized there was no room to get by or take a fadeaway jumper, he passed the ball to forward Aaron Gordon, who air balled a jumper.
On Denver’s next possession, Murray missed a pull-up jumper. Minutes later, his floater was no good. Murray didn’t score a basket on five attempts in the first half, with three missed shots coming from around the free throw line. It was the first time in his career that Murray was held scoreless in a half of a postseason game.
“(The Timberwolves) know what they are doing in the pick-and-roll, and they put a lot of good defenders on Jamal,” Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic said.
In the second half, Murray finally hit his stride. He scored 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting, as he tried to keep up with the Timberwolves’ offensive surge in the third and fourth quarters. His four-point play, coming on stepback 3-pointer against Karl-Anthony Towns, gave the Nuggets an 81-80 advantage in the fourth quarter.
Eventually, Edwards responded by scoring back-to-back baskets to regain the lead. And Murray couldn’t author the same late-game heroics that produced a pair of game-winning shots against the Lakers in the first round.
“(Minnesota) is physical and (makes) you take tough shots,” Jokic said.
Murray, who didn’t speak with reporters after the game, struggled for long stretches of Denver’s first-round series against L.A. He shot 40% from the floor and 29.4% from the 3-point line in five games. But when he dropped 32 points and made the game-winning shot in Game 5 against the Lakers, Murray briefly quelled concerns over his lingering calf injury.
Unfortunately for Denver, that scoring outburst failed to carry over into the first half against Minnesota. And Murray’s 14 shot attempts were the fewest in a postseason game since 2020.
If Denver is to dig itself out of the 1-0 hole it finds itself in after Saturday night, that will likely have to change when Game 2 arrives Monday night.
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