Jamal Murray's 45-point game powers Nuggets to win over Mavericks

Bennett Durando, The Denver Post on Jan 15, 2025

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DALLAS — Jamal Murray called his shots.

With a laugh and a little venom in his in voice, he said Tuesday morning when asked how much his sore left knee is affecting him: “If you watch the game, I’m sure you’d be able to tell. At least the last game.

“But I should be better today.”

It turned out to be an understatement. Murray was the best he’s been all season in a 118-99 Nuggets win over the Mavericks, piling on 32 of his 45 points in the first half at American Airlines Center.

The Mavericks, meanwhile, did not have a single double-digit scorer at halftime.

Murray’s season-high scoring night came on the heels of Michael Malone almost shutting him down at halftime in Denver’s previous game on Sunday. Knee soreness was hindering Murray until late in the third quarter of a stirring comeback, causing Malone to defend his point guard after the win: “He’s not 100% healthy.”

Denver (24-15) has won four in a row and eight of its last 10 after sweeping Dallas in a two-game series. Now half a game out of third place in the West, the Nuggets will fly home to host the second-place Rockets in a back-to-back Wednesday.

Murray set a career-high in first-half scoring en route to his second game this season with 30 or more points. He made 18 of 26 shots from the field, including a 7-for-9 first quarter packed with highlights and accompanied by three assists. He buried three of his five 3-pointers in the first five minutes, spotting up and pulling up to give Denver a 14-6 lead.

Suddenly, his confidence visibly skyrocketed. Reminiscent of the 2023 NBA Finals or the COVID-19 bubble, he was hungry for the ball every possession. He started raining midrange buckets off the dribble. In the last minute of a 19-point quarter, he added a contested floater and a lefty layup that was pure magic, high off the glass, with 1.8 seconds to go.

Murray, coincidentally, had also complimented Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving on his ambidexterity after Denver’s morning shootaround, saying “I’d love to challenge him to a left-hand shooting shooting contest.”

The icing on the first-quarter cake: Quentin Grimes drained a 60-footer at the buzzer for Dallas, but it was waved off, released a tenth of a second too late. The Nuggets led by 15. It was 26 by halftime.

Irving was rusty in his return after missing a week with an injury. He was held to 11 points on 18 shots.

Nikola Jokic didn’t attempt a shot until 10 minutes into the game and deferred to teammates as often as he could throughout the night, finishing with a 10-point, 14-rebound, 10-assist triple-double in three quarters. He assisted Murray’s first basket with perhaps his best dime of the season, a delicious swing pass out of the post to the weak side.

Malone was briefly in danger of needing to check Jokic back into the game when Dallas sliced a once 31-point lead to 14 early in the fourth. But Julian Strawther, Murray (twice) and Aaron Gordon hit consecutive jumpers for a 10-0 run that saved garbage time.

Gordon returned to the lineup Sunday after missing nine games with a right calf strain, but he didn’t start in either Dallas game. Malone says he anticipates that remaining Gordon’s role “for a while,” with a targeted sweet spot around 18 minutes.

“There’s no rush to push this. We’ve been playing at a high level with Aaron out. … I have to do my job,” Malone said. “Aaron was great the other night. He was playing so well. And when I took him out, he understands the moment and then — take a step back — the bigger picture, and how important he is to this team. Hopefully it’ll be a slow build-up, and we can increase his minutes. … He’s so selfless. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to help this team win.”

Gordon concurred that he’s comfortable coming off the bench. He and Malone will need to work together to not get too far ahead of themselves, though. After missing 10 games in November with the same injury, Gordon went past his minutes restriction in his second game back to help secure a comeback win over the Warriors. Four days later, his calf forced Denver to play without him in a loss to the Wizards.

“I think he’s at a point now — he understands, let’s be smart about our approach,” Malone said. “Even in a competitive situation when we’re in the fourth quarter, and we’re coming back, and he has a lot to do with that: ‘Hey now, we’re at your minutes restriction. You’ve gotta come out.’ That’s not easy, but I think he understands.”

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