The Denver Nuggets fell to the Los Angeles Lakers, 119-108, on the road Saturday night in Game 4 of the first-round playoff series between the two teams.
The Nuggets still lead the series, 3-1, heading into Game 5 at home on Monday night and remain the favorites to win the Western Conference this postseason, but one cause for concern for Denver moving forward has to be the guard game. Jamal Murray.
Murray had one of the highlights of the series so far when he hit a mid-range jumper over Anthony Davis as time expired in Game 2 to give the Nuggets the win, but otherwise he’s really struggled to put the ball in the basket.
Nuggets 3-pointers: When is it time to start worrying about Jamal Murray? https://t.co/7SFzHWPlVb
– Denver Post (@denverpost) April 28, 2024
In Game 4, Murray scored 22 points and 10 assists on 9-of-24 shooting from the field. The Canadian national has reached the 20-point mark in every game of the series so far, but so far he has failed to shoot over 40% from the field in any game.
Since the start of the postseason, Murray has made 38.0% of his field goal attempts and 20.8% from 3-point range. He was 0-for-4 from beyond the arc in the Game 4 loss on Saturday.
Saturday marked just the sixth time this season and the first time since Feb. 22 that Murray failed to hit a 3-pointer in a game.
Murray entered this year’s playoffs averaging more than seven points per game better in the postseason than he did in the regular season throughout his career.
Murray’s problems were compounded by less than stellar play from Denver’s role players. After scoring a career-high 29 points in the playoffs in Game 3, Aaron Gordon only scored seven points Saturday night. Michael Porter Jr. took over with 27 points, but the Nuggets bench only had five points on the night.
Jamal Murray vs Lakers minus that fourth quarter: pic.twitter.com/J1gSVJpkcq
– tapirs ⚒️ (@nuggetnikola) April 28, 2024
On the other hand, Los Angeles guard D’Angelo Russell bounced back from a horrendous performance in Game 3 to score 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting on Saturday. The star of the show, however, was LeBron James, who had 30 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals in the Lakers’ victory.
Last postseason, Murray averaged 26.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game while shooting 47.3% from the field and 39.6% from 3-point range. Along with Nikola Jokic, he was the main reason Denver won the NBA title last year.
Denver wasted another special performance from Jokic on Saturday, as the presumed MVP racked up 33 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists over the course of the night.
The Nuggets are always a threat to win with Jokic on the court, but if Murray can’t put things right soon, Denver could have its hands full as it attempts to repeat as league champions in 2024.
If head coach Michael Malone’s team advances beyond the first round, it will likely play the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference semifinals.
Denver went 2-1 against the Timberwolves during the regular season. In those three games, Murray averaged 17.3 points, 7.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds in the three games, shooting 19 of 43 (44.2%) from the field and 7 of 13 (53.8%) from the 3 point range.
During the regular season, the Nuggets went 28-13 in games in which Murray scored fewer than 25 points. The Canadian guard missed 23 games this year due to a knee injury.
