MINNEAPOLIS – The face of the Nuggets’ most impressive win of the season wore orange sherbet and raspberry kicks and a black hat.
Jamal Murray stepped onto the Target Center court to thunderous boos and embraced the role of the villain. After throwing a towel Monday, Murray refused to throw in the towel Friday.
He embarrassed the organization with his actions and his lack of accountability following Game 2. But hidden behind the cloak of denial was an outlaw ready to bellow Folsom Prison Blues.
Murray was not Johnny Cash. He was simply Money. And precisely when his team needed him most.
The postseason’s best closer flipped the script with a Fast and Curious start. He wanted the moment, the days off returning burst to his left calf. With four minutes remaining in the first quarter, Murray sank an 18-footer. A few possessions later, he executed a fall away, giving the Nuggets a 23-19 lead. The score was not as important as Murray’s reaction. He rubbed his hands together, hardly a coincidence, letting everyone know he was warming up.
You could have cooked Smores over what happened next. Murray stopped and started more than a New York taxi, then delivered a reverse layup and chirped to the crowd. This seemed unthinkable a week ago as the Nuggets star stumbled, bumbled and fumbled through two of the worst postseason games of his career.
Coach Michael Malone trusted that he team would punch back Friday, making the upstart Timberwolves taste leather.
“We didn’t face adversity (Monday), we kind of ran from it,” Malone said. “We are the reigning world champs. Let’s not forget that. That was only last year. Let’s go back to playing like that.”
It was like they had charisma bypass surgery. They went from whining and tired to whaling on the Timberwolves. They delivered their best first quarter of the postseason. They owned a 56-41 lead at half and a 93-66 advantage after three in the 117-90 rout.
This is what we all wanted to see. Everyone in Denver is over the national media dismissing the Nuggets as an afterthought, believing what happened last May was because of Jokic and sprinkles of pixie dust. Friday, the Nuggets stopped being reactionary. Passiveness became a stranger.
They took the game to the Wolves — whether it was Murray elbowing his way into the lane or Jokic smashing into Rudy Gobert in the paint. Their supporting actors wandered into the spotlight in a way so common last postseason. Aaron Gordon made back-to-back 3s in the third quarter, accepting the Timberwolves’ dare to shoot. When things got a little greasy, Michael Porter Jr. drilled a 3 from Target Field, stretching the advantage to 26 points.
These were the Nuggets who made memories and gave us all goosebumps. This was the team that made a parade possible. Tell them they are not good enough, back them into a corner, and they fought like a wolverine on an espresso.
It all started with Murray. While Jokic is the engine of this team, Murray is the vibe. He was more of a character than a man of character in the two losses. Friday, he flourished in the aura of anger. The more hostile the crowd became, the better he played. The redder in the face the Timberwolves got — and man did the Nuggets benefit from a tightly called game by Tony Brothers’ officiating crew — the steadier Murray became.
No one wanted him in this game. I believed he deserved a suspension for his hat trick of a tossed towel, heating pad and money sign. Murray got the last laugh. Well, check that. The final smirk.
His teammates congratulated him. Malone, who had a run-in with a fan in the fourth quarter that led to two men exiting, praised him.
It was enough to make Nuggets Nation smile. Murray did not just lead the Nuggets to a win. He rubbed it in. The only thing missing was the tip of his black cowboy hat.
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