This day in Nuggets history: Jamal Murray scores 30 in first half against Lakers

On this day two years ago, Jamal Murray went on a tear, scoring 30 first half points, as the Nuggets jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals over the Los Angeles Lakers

BY TRENT FINNEGAN

May 20, 2025, 10:11 AM Updated: 10:11 am

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While it seems like forever ago that the Denver Nuggets were hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy a mile high as they finally won the first championship in franchise history. Jamal Murray, coming off an ACL tear, was able to find the formed that gave him the nickname “Bubble Murray” from NBA fans across the league as he was the best second-option in the playoffs throughout that run.

Two years ago today was one of Murray’s best games of that entire playoff run, Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. After a fourth quarter Murray flurry in Game 2 pushed Denver to a 2-0 lead in the series, he came out in Los Angeles still blazing hot as he put the team on his back in the first half.

JAMAL MURRAY!

30 PTS IN THE 1ST HALF 🔥#PLAYOFFMODE

3Q underway on ABC 🍿 pic.twitter.com/JMiB5JYY44

— NBA (@NBA) May 21, 2023

Murray finished the game with 37 points, his second consecutive game reaching 37, on 15-of-29 shooting. He cooled down in the second half as the Lakers retooled their defense to focus on the Blue Arrow, but that just opened up new avenues for the rest of the Nuggets as they pulled out a 119-108 victory on the road.

This performance was one of four phenomenal ones from Murray in that series as he became the first player in NBA history to average at least 30 points in a Conference Finals on 50/40/90 shooting splits. While a lot of the talk that year was on Jokic winning his first Finals MVP and championship, none of that would’ve been possible without the contributions of Murray.

Where has that version of Murray been in recent playoff runs for Denver? He’s shown glimpses, as seen with his 43-point explosion in Game 5 of the first round against the LA Clippers this year, but he has not been playing as consistently as he was in that special 2023 run.

His health hasn’t been as good as it was in the 2023 run, as he dealt with a calf strain in 2024 and an illness in 2025 that limited him at the end of the seven game series against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Teams have upped the physicality with him, something that he struggled mightily with against the Thunder and with the Timberwolves a season ago.

Murray also only committed 1.8 turnovers per game in that series against the Lakers, the second-best mark in a series in his career and the lowest since 2019 when he averaged 1.3 in seven games against the Portland Trail Blazers. Turnovers plagued the Nuggets this year as Murray and the rest of the team struggled to handle the tough defense of the Thunder.

While the season came to a tough ending on Sunday, Nuggets fans can always look to moments like these and appreciate that their team has won a championship more recently than 28 other franchises (Boston and whoever wins this year).