How Jamal Murray’s magical fourth quarter was inspired by broadcasters

DENVER—Denver Nuggets play-by-play guy Chris Marlowe counted down, “Jamal Murray, 3… 2… 1… the shot.”

Clank…

This of course wasn’t in a game, Marlowe doesn’t call games this late into the playoffs. This was before Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals as Murray warmed up. Shooting his signature over the backboard baseline trickster to end his pregame warmup about an hour before tip time, Murray found himself surrounded by a gaggle of scurrying media members. There was Marlowe on his pregame show, turning around to see Murray miss one then the unmistakable voice began to jokingly count him down, giving him pressure.

Murray was into it, he shot again, and again, and again—missing a bunch.

Marlowe was into it, giving a unique call every time Murray readied for his jumper.

Marlowe eventually called a Murray “game-winner” to end his warm-up on a make as the Blue Arrow smiled and hugged the longtime voice of the Nuggets on the way back to the lockerroom.

Marlowe voiced what Murray and many kids used to emulate in their driveways. Being the broadcaster and the player, marking the final seconds with the ball in their hands, hoping for a game-winner.

“When I was little I used to count down the seconds of the shot clock and then make the shot,” Murray said. “I would talk like Marv Albert or Mike Breen, just the imagination running as a kid.”

Murray was brutal through three quarters, shooting 5-of-17 from the field with 14 points as the Nuggets still found a way to turn an 11-point Lakers lead to just three starting the fourth. But just like how Murray welcomed Marlowe’s friendly pressure of the clock ticking down, he needed to see the clock hit clutch time before going supernova on Thursday.

Murray started the fourth with a floating mid-range jumper from the elbow, finding the net over a herd of Lakers.

Next time down Dennis Schröder went under an Aaron Gordon screen so Murray launched his 10th three of the game.

“When I hit the three on the right wing, it was a good shot,” Murray said.”

It gave the Nuggets an 84-83 lead with 9:20 to play, their first lead since Hector was a pup. A lead they never would relinquish.

The game went two minutes without a score until Murray’s next hoist. A screen late in the clock got him mismatched onto Anthony Davis so he stepped back from 25 feet.

“Then I hit the three on AD and I felt like I found the mark,” the Blue Arrow said. “I hit the target.”

They were two of four three-pointers Murray hit in a 23-point outburst quarter.

“He got a little mid-range pull up to go in kind of looked up to the heavens and that’s all he needs,” Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said. “And after that, he’s shooting into a hula hoop.”

That second three earned a bang from Breen. The fourth three, a shot over LeBron James, earned a “bang” from Murray as he shouted to the broadcast booth and trotted into the backcourt.

Jamal Murray points to Mike Breen and calls "BANG" after hitting the three 🔥 pic.twitter.com/NkwgqB1qsK

— NBA (@NBA) May 19, 2023

“When you get in that moment and see your family, your little brother, you see Mike Breen there. All these little reminders pay dividends and make that moment more special,” Murray said after the game. “It locks you back in and you don’t want to miss that opportunity. You remember how fun it was to play in the Western Conference Finals against the Lakers and LeBron James, it’s an amazing opportunity and it’s something you can look back and remember for the rest of your life. It’s fun when you get it going like that in the fourth.”

It was Murray’s fourth career 20-point fourth quarter in the playoffs, the most of any player across the league in the last 25 years. His 23 points were more than any single Laker had in the entire game. When the pressure comes, Murray produces.

On what was shaping up to be a night of indictment as to why Murray isn’t an All-Star, he did what no Nugget ever had in a playoff game, go for 37 points, 10 boards, five helpers, four steals while cashing six from deep. His fourth quarter was the marvel, now outscoring Davis and James combined in the final period in the first two games of the series. Murray’s fourth, sidekicked by just another triple-double from Nikola Jokic pushed the Nuggets to a 108-103 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

As for Murray’s pregame practice shots voiced by Marlowe, “You shoot in a spot in practice and you miss four or five or six in a row then you lock in and reset and refocus and make 10 in a row. It’s all mental and I was able to do that (in the game) tonight.”

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