Jamal Murray sprained his right ankle and was designated as questionable during the second quarter of the Nuggets’ game against the Miami Heat on Thursday night at Ball Arena.
Backup point guard Reggie Jackson started the second half in his place with Murray absent from the bench.
Murray appeared to land awkwardly on teammate Aaron Gordon’s foot under the basket after dishing an assist to Nikola Jokic. Murray initially got to his feet, but then sat back down on the baseline. He walked off the floor under his own power, but with a heavy limp.
Murray has been dealing with shin splints, categorized officially as bilateral tibia inflammation, in recent weeks. He has missed 16 games due to various leg injuries this season, most notably a right hamstring strain in November. After missing a month of action, he returned and promptly sprained his right ankle in early December, causing him to miss a couple more games.
In his first 43 games of 2023-24, Murray averaged 20.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 6.4 assists on 48% shooting from the floor and a 42% clip from 3-point range. Entering Thursday’s game — the second of a back-to-back — he was coming off an outstanding 32-point performance on 13-of-15 shooting Wednesday against the Sacramento Kings. In a back-to-back the previous week, Denver gave Murray the second game off for cautionary reasons.
Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.
Link to original article