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Troy Renck: Jamal Murray made another shot. The bigger the moment, the better the Nuggets star gets.

Troy Renck, The Denver Post on

Published in Basketball

DENVER — Jamal Murray made another shot.

Because of a flick of a wrist, LeBron James is gone. And he took Anthony Davis with him. The Nuggets vanquished the Lakers, beating them for the 12th time in 13 games to advance to the second round of the playoffs.

Denver got the win. Los Angeles got the whine.

No more stamping of feet, throwing arms in the air and begging for calls. The LLLLakers are over. They have morphed into the Dallas Cowboys the past four years, more famous for their brand than their results.

Now we can focus on basketball, not sideshows and news conferences. Before we dive into the Xs and Os of Nuggets vs. T-Wolves, can we savor the latest Oh My!

In Game 2, Murray made a shot. It will forever be immortalized in pictures and portraits as he walked off the Lakers at the buzzer as he lay flat on his back. In Game 5, he made another shot, an eight-footer that left the Lakers with no response.

 

If it feels like nobody has ever done this, well, that’s because they haven’t. Since play-by-play logs became a thing in the 1997-98 season, Murray is the only player to score a pair of winning shots in the final five seconds of a playoff series.

The juxtaposition remains alarming.

During his eight-year career, Murray has averaged 17.2 points per game, tying his career-high with 21.2 this season. He has never made an All-Star Game, never been named All-NBA. His lone honor is a 2016 rookie of the month for November. His win share numbers are similar to Mario Elie and Pooh Richardson.

But get him to the postseason, and his comps are Allen Iverson, Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan. It is the most unique thing I have ever witnessed in covering pro sports. During the regular season, he is Ozzie and Harriet. In the playoffs, he’s Ozzy Osbourne.

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