DENVER — Jamal Murray has established himself as an elite playoff performer since the Denver Nuggets’ title window began in 2023, but his best moments have generally come late in games with clutch shot-making.
In Saturday night’s 116-105 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series, Murray was devastating from the free throw line, making all 16 of his attempts to break a franchise record, and finished with a game-high 30 points.
“I thought I got fouled on every single one of them,” Murray said afterward. “I don’t know what everybody’s talking about. [They were] real fouls.”
The Nuggets made 30 of their 33 free throws in the game, and that success was critical because they shot 1-for-17 behind the 3-point arc in the second half and easily could’ve squandered the 15-point lead they built in the third quarter.
Instead, Denver held on for a gritty win at home to take a 1-0 lead in the series, the eighth time the Nuggets have taken a lead in nine series openers since 2023. Denver has won six of the seven previous series in which they took Game 1.
In the tightly contested Nuggets vs. Timberwolves rivalry — the teams have played each other more times during the past three years than any other two teams in the league — every edge matters. After taking Game 1, Denver holds a 15-14 record against Minnesota in the regular season and playoffs since 2023.
That past has served as a fascinating prologue for this series, which both sides expect to be a taut battle once again.
“The first game, everybody’s got so much adrenaline,” Murray said. “Everybody’s excited. Everybody’s a little bit nervous. Some butterflies, which is human. I go back and I look at all my Game 1s that I’ve played, and I just remember having so much energy. I remember we played the San Antonio Spurs one year. I got a steal first play of the game, and I pulled up from the logo. I was like, ‘I’m just so excited.’
“So, I just found over the years, just being able to relax and just play another game and knowing that I’m going to play most of the game. I’m not going to have to look or hunt shots, the game’s just going to come to me. So, it’s a different mindset. I think that allows me to make every free throw or just play at my pace.”
That mindset has helped Murray to his finest, most consistent individual season, averaging a career high in points, rebounds, assists and 3-point field goal percentage. He ranked second in total clutch-time points this season and was the only player to average at least 25 points and seven assists and shoot 40% this season.
He has been a steadying force all season for the third-seeded Nuggets, who’ve needed him more than ever as costars Nikola Jokic and Aaron Gordon each missed large chunks of the season because of injuries.
On Saturday night, Murray carried the Nuggets when Gordon picked up three fouls in the first quarter and Jokic took just four shots in the first half. And he did so without having his 3-point stroke working. Murray missed all eight of his 3-point attempts Saturday.
According to ESPN Insights, Murray is the fifth player in postseason history to shoot zero percent from 3-point range (minimum five attempts) and 100% from the free throw line (minimum 10 attempts) in a game.
“He was 0-for-8 from 3. That’s not going to happen [often],” Nuggets coach David Adelman said. “He knows the rhythm he’s been in. But Jamal has been Jamal all year, just tough-minded.
“He’s got a lot of responsibilities with a lot of different people guarding him that are high-level defenders, that had a hold of his jersey throughout the night. So, [Jaden] McDaniels, he works hard. Anthony Edwards is on him. [Ayo] Dosunmu, I mean, this is a challenge. So, I just thought mentally, he fought through it, and there were timely shots that he made.”
After the game, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch didn’t take exception with a specific foul call on Murray, but rather the sheer number of attempts he was awarded.
“Sixteen free throws is a lot. It’s almost as many as we shot all game,” Finch said.
Minnesota was 14-for-19 from the line Saturday, when its star, Edwards, took just seven attempts.
“A lot of those ones in the second quarter, we were there, we were physical, we were vertical,” Finch said. “He initiates the contact, he spills away, and then he gets rewarded for it; Jokic does the same thing. We’ve got to be solid around that.”
Still, Finch said there were a lot of other reasons Minnesota lost the game.
“We’ve got to be more composed,” Finch said. “Down seven with three minutes left or something like that, then we foul up the floor. Plays like that really hurt you in the playoffs, especially against an experienced team.”
Finch also said that Edwards, who finished with 22 points, looked tired at points in the game as he works his way back from a knee injury.
“He looked normal for what he’s been through,” Finch said of Edwards, who walked with a limp on his way out of the arena. “I thought he got tired in the third [quarter]; it’s why I pulled him a little bit earlier. He had some good looks throughout the game. The touch maybe wasn’t there. It wasn’t the Ant we’re used to seeing, but it was as expected in terms of where he is in trying to find his rhythm.”
