Nuggets HC Says Jamal Murray Was 'Born For' Big Moments After 43 Points vs. Clippers

After escaping with two wins in the first four games of their Western Conference playoff series, the Denver Nuggets had their best showing against the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 5 on Tuesday night thanks to Jamal Murray's 43-point night.

Following the Nuggets' 131-115 win, head coach David Adelman told reporters that Murray was "born for" these types of big moments.

"These big moments, these situations. He was born for this," Adelman said. "You can kind of tell the way the ball comes off his hand on certain nights. I thought he had a great lift on his jump shot. ...When it's flowing like that, it's the guy that's won us so many playoff games in the past."

There was some concern about Denver's prospects entering the postseason in part because of Murray's health. He missed six straight games toward the end of the regular season due to a hamstring injury.

Murray was inconsistent in the first four games against the Clippers. He shot under 40 percent from the field in Games 1 and 3, though interestingly Denver won both games. He averaged 23.0 points on 53.1 percent shooting in their losses in Games 2 and 3.

Tuesday marked the first time Murray looked like he did during the 2023 postseason to help the Nuggets win the NBA title. The 28-year-old shot 17-of-26 from the field and his eight threes were his most in a playoff game since 2020.

Murray now has as many 40-point games in the playoffs as he does in the regular season.

This also helped make up for what was Nikola Jokić's worst game of the series. The three-time NBA MVP still had a triple-double in Game 5 with 13 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, but he shot just 4-of-13 in 37 minutes.

Thanks to the stellar efforts of Murray, the Nuggets are one win away from advancing to the Western Conference semifinals. They can close out the series in Game 6 at the Intuit Dome on Thursday at 10 p.m. ET.