Jamal Murray shoved the ball away from him like it was a heat pad.
With 4.2 seconds left and the Nuggets trailing Dallas, 121-119, Murray stepped up for the second of two free throws with the intention of missing. The Blue Arrow pushed the rock at the rim on a rope, with exquisite disgust.
It banked off the backboard and tushed right through the net.
One of those nights. One of those Novembers.
“The whole game, I’m trying to make (a shot), and I’m trying to miss one time,” the Nuggets guard recalled with a rueful chuckle late Friday night after a 123-120 defeat. “So, that’s the way it goes sometimes, you know?”
You’d laugh, but only to keep from crying.
Before Saturday night’s late-night showdown with the Lakers, the Blue Arrows looked more like a Broken Arrow. Mr. 50-40-90 went into Tinseltown averaging 17.4 points per game in November while shooting 40.7% from the floor and 33.3% on treys.
You don’t know what you’re going to get on a given night. As of Saturday morning, the Arrow had posted four games this season in which he’d scored 20 points or more. After each of those four, he went out the next time and shot 6 for 20, 2 for 7, 7 for 17 and, more recently, 4 for 16 vs. the Mavericks.
“You sure you’re feeling OK?” I asked the Nuggets guard at his locker after the Dallas loss. “You keep saying, ‘I’m good, I’m good …’”
Murray looked daggers in my direction.
“Then take that,” he replied.
If it’s not the knee, it’s the head.
You get flashes of Playoff Mal, those spring heat checks that could melt a glacier. But much of the time, it looks as if Murray is playing with a $209 million sack on his back, a wanna-be All-Star staggered by the weight of expectations. A max contract guy putting up mid numbers.
To wit: While closing out a miserable first half against Dallas and a Mavs squad missing Luka Doncic, the Nuggets nevertheless found themselves with a chance to take the final shot.
Only Murray, who was 2 for 7 at the time, turned it over and then committed a foul, gifting Big D two free throws and a 73-53 cushion at the break.
“I think (if) we just take care of the first half, don’t come out as sloppy and make better urgency, we can win that game,” Murray reflected.
Alas, the Nuggets ran out of juice over the final three minutes. Which was compounded by Dallas hunting Murray defensively and taking it to him, time and again.
Over his first 10 games, the Arrow has posted a 112 or higher Defensive Rating in the fourth quarter — higher is worse — six times. Mind you, he put up the same ratio at the start of the 2022-23 season. You just notice it more when he stops making shots at the other end of the floor.
“Some of those are shots that he probably makes,” Malone said. “And I’m sure some of those are probably … shots where maybe we could have swung it or made an extra pass for maybe a better shot.”
Maybe. Although these days, even Murray’s clutch gene comes and goes like the autumn wind.
NBA.com defines “clutch” stats as applying to any action that takes place in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime of a game that’s within five points or less. In the first month of the 2022-23 campaign, one that ended with a parade, Murray appeared in four “clutch” finish games, posting an 89.5 Defensive Rating and a Net Rating of plus-5.4. This season? Seven “clutch” games as of Saturday morning, with a yikes 123.4 Defensive Rating and a Net of plus-7.9.
Christian Braun went into Saturday night with 10 “clutch” games and a 115.3 Defensive Rating and a Net of plus-18.9, best among Nuggets starters. Nikola Jokic was second in “clutch” Net, at plus-14.2, followed by Peyton Watson (plus-14.0), then Michael Porter Jr. (plus-13.3) … and then Murray.
When the eye test and the computers match up, you’ve got a problem. If MPJ can be benched for defensive reasons in the fourth quarter, why not the Arrow?
“We’ve got to find a way,” Malone continued. “And I have to find a way to help to get Jamal going.”
The Canadian’s most buzz-worthy moment Friday came with 8:27 left. Murray caught a live fly, walked over to the sideline and plopped it between ESPN announcers Doris Burke and Mike Breen.
“It was just squirming on the court and … I just thought I’d go to Doris or whoever was over there and just lighten up my mood as well,” the Nuggets guard explained. “Sometimes, you just have to smile … so I just tried to, more for myself, honestly, break the negativity mentally and have a joke with those guys.”
“Did you catch that thing in the air?” I asked.
Another look. Another dagger.
“I’ll let you figure that out,” he countered.
This version of Murray wouldn’t hurt a fly. But it’s hurting the Nuggets in the middle of Jokic’s title window, as the latter creeps ever closer to a cold, lonely sill.
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