For 6 minutes and 26 seconds on Thursday night, the Nuggets were a dream team. Poetry in motion, with pizzazz.
They outscored the Magic 35-7 during that second-quarter surge en route to a 126-115 victory. It illustrated what the Nuggets are capable of when their defense sparks a run, and when one of their best players catches fire.
In this case, guard Jamal Murray, who scored 20 of his game-high 32 points in that 6:26 span, drained five 3-pointers and blew the lid off Ball Arena. A trio of his 3-pointers came on pull-up, transition jumpers as the Nuggets got their running game into high gear.
“The crowd feels it, we feel it,” coach David Adelman said after the Nuggets notched their sixth consecutive victory. “It’s almost like a dunk for our team. Because he’s so consistent, and it does seem like it’s always on the tail end of a run that leads to a timeout for the other team.”
As the Nuggets prepare to host Houston on Saturday afternoon, Murray is averaging a career-best 25.2 points per game, including 28.1 in December. He’s helping make up for the absence of injured starters Christian Braun (ankle) and Aaron Gordon (hamstring). Plus, the Nuggets were without guard Payton Watson Thursday night because of what the team called a “right trunk contusion.”
While Adelman raved about Murray’s performance — 7 of 12 from beyond the arc, just one turnover — Murray said he’s not necessarily hunting for more 3-pointers in transition.
“I’m not really looking for the ‘three,’ I’m just looking for the ball, honestly,” he said. “I think the energy is contagious and (teammates) can read, or sense, the way I am putting the ball in the hoop. They keep finding me, and I just try to get into the rhythm.
“It feels good … But I’m just playing my game, the results will take care of themselves.
Denver scored 28 fast-break points, and many of those points were the result of Murray or center Nikola Jokic pushing the pace.
The Nuggets were sluggish in the first 1 1/2 quarters, leading Adelman to lament the energy it took them to erase Orlando’s early 47-33 lead. But once the Nuggets got going, they rolled over the Magic like a tidal wave.
The run began with a 3-pointer from Jalen Pickett on an assist from Jokic, who passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most assists by a center in NBA history (5,667). Jokic finished the night with 13 assists, the centerpiece of his 23-point, 11-rebound triple-double.
Next, Jokic stole the ball and fed Murray for a running, pull-up 3-pointer. Denver’s game-changing surge was on.
“We (had) much better defensive intensity and activity with our hands,” Adelman said. “I thought the intensity in that quarter was through the roof. … That was one of our best quarters of the whole season.”
Of Jokic’s 13 assists, four came during the 6:26 run. He knew Murray was hot and started looking for him.
“He shot the ball really well tonight and he was aggressive,” Jokic said, glancing at the stat sheet. “Wow, he made seven ‘threes.’ I didn’t know that.”
Adelman said Murray’s offensive production, and his desire to shoot more 3-pointers, whether on Thursday night or all season, is the result of several factors.
“Jamal’s on a heater, for sure,” he said. “Sometimes, what unlocks things is just the way the team is playing this year. I think we are trying to spread the floor more, and I think he’s been more aggressive in the early clock to shoot (3-pointers).
“It’s funny. Because if there are nights when he shoots them and he goes 3 for 12, everybody says it’s a bad shot. Then he goes 7 for 12, and everybody says, ‘Man, he’s got to keep to keep shooting those.’
“You have to be OK with your best players trying to do things they work on every day, and honestly, are trying to perfect.”
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