There’s only one Jamal and he’s sick of hearing about ‘Bubble Murray’

DENVER—”To be honest, sometimes he’s the number 1,” Nikola Jokic said of Jamal Murray after Game 1 of the Denver Nuggets’ first-round series with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Murray was arguably Denver’s premier player the last time he was healthy for a playoff run, popping off for 40 points four different times as he pushed Denver to the Western Conference Final during the 2020 bubble. But then came Murray’s ACL tear in 2021, robbing him of two postseasons. And then Jokic stepped up for Denver and won back-to-back MVPs to carry the Nuggets to the playoffs but not much further. You know the story.

A game after Jokic admitted his Robin is sometimes actually the team’s Batman, Murray was the Nuggets best player as he splashed for 40 points out-dueling Anthony Edwards’ 41 points in Denver’s 122-113 Game 2 win.

“He’s been our number 1 for two games now,” Jokic, who scored 27 points and added nine rebounds and nine assists said Wednesday night.

Murray has had a year of returns coming back from the knee injury. It was on Wednesday we finally saw the monster known as postseason Murray come home.

Checking back in at 8:31 of the fourth, the Blue Arrow got a technical foul shot thanks to a hissy fit from Rudy Gobert.

Saving the Nuggets from blowing a 21-point lead, Murray cashed six threes in the game and turned it up late. No. 27 scored 10 of the Nuggets’ last 27 points.

A minute and a half after the foul shot he threw it to Michael Porter Jr. for his 11th point of the fourth, a 26-footer coming off the Murray helper. The shot gave the Nuggets a lead they never again relinquished.

With the lead still hanging at a reasonable five points with over four minutes to go, Murray hit a 26-foot stepback.

The next time down it was Murray from 12 feet to put the Nuggets up 10.

The lead came crashing down to six with 90 seconds left and the Blue Arrow drew his bow from 26 feet. It was the dagger and it was 40 points on the bullseye.

Murray walked off to a hero’s reception with 11 seconds left, hugging coach Michael Malone.

“There’s only one Jamal, so he just reminded me of that,” Murray told TNT what Malone said to him.

The 40 points were Murray’s most in a playoff game at Ball Arena, topping the career mark of 24 he set on Sunday.

“It’s nice having the crowd, they get me going,” Murray said with a smile. “It’s a lot of fun being in the zone, feeling the adrenaline.”

The truth is Murray’s biggest moments so far had come in the bubble. His 50-point games stopped the basketball world. He followed that run up with an awesome 2021 season that’s mostly been forgotten due to it ending with a blown-out knee.

“I don’t think about the bubble and Jamal… like I’m the same person. I don’t know, I’m not split, you know, so I’m kind of exhausted of that like I’m not that person like that’s not me,” Murray said. “That was just the beginning and I have to keep my mentality that way. If I keep looking back as you guys think that was it for me, I’m not gonna exceed that.”

According to his most important teammate, Murray has already exceeded the past bubble pre-repaired knee version of himself.

“I think he’s playing better now than in bubble,” Jokic said. “Yes, maybe he’s got a lot more points in the bubble. But I think he’s much better—his leadership, he’s into the game much more now on a high level.”

Murray doubled down, sharing his sickness with the doubts about him returning to that star-level form, especially in the face of his devastating injury

“It’s not two different people. I’m working to get myself back to that level and better and beyond and I don’t want to listen to everybody thinking and that was it, so there’s more to come,” the point guard said. “There are better performances to come, there’s a healthier body, there’s an offseason where I can train there’s a lot of factors. It’s the mentality for me. I have to say that I have to be about it and I have to believe it. And hopefully, you guys believe it too.”

So pop the Bubble Murray narratives, they’re done. On Wednesday, the basketball world was reintroduced to Jamal Murray, and now he’ll be known as a playoff performer period. And it’s this Glitch, the one who can take control of any game with his arrow who can carry the Nuggets to heights the franchise has never reached before.

“He like left a piece of him out there tonight. For 39 minutes he was just so impactful across the board,” Malone said. “Passionate, heartfelt performance.”