Jamal Murray Hasn't 'Closed the Door' on Return from Knee Injury, per Nuggets' Malone

Denver Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray, who has been out all season with a torn ACL suffered last April, could still make his 2021-22 NBA debut.

Denver head coach Mike Malone told reporters that Murray participated in sections of practice Wednesday and that he has not "closed the door" on a comeback.

Murray, 25, averaged a career-high 21.2 points per game during the 2020-21 campaign.

Denver, which is the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference playoffs, will face the No. 3 seed Golden State Warriors in the first round.

The Nuggets were already short-handed at point guard without Murray, but now they'll have to go without suspended backup Facundo Campazzo in Game 1 after he received a flagrant-2 foul in a regular-season ending loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Ultimately, Malone said he believes it's unlikely Murray will return to play.

Denver president of basketball operations Tim Connelly was more hopeful when speaking to Altitude Sports Radio, though:

For now, Murray will assuredly be out for Game 1, which will go down Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET at Chase Center.