Bubble Jamal? Or Trouble Jamal?
What’s it gonna be, 27? Because right now, Nuggets Nation isn’t quite sure which Jamal Murray they’re going to get in the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
We know Nikola Jokic will paint the lane the way Michelangelo painted ceilings. We know Aaron Gordon will destroy rims for fun. We know Christian Braun will become the dude the other fan base loves to hate.
We know Michael Porter Jr. will have you punching the air one minute and punching a wall the next. We know Russell Westbrook will be tough on your ticker.
But Murray?
With Game 1 against the Clippers looming on Saturday afternoon, the Nuggets’ postseason wild card is wilder than ever.
Bubble Jamal? Or Trouble Jamal?
“We know what Jamal is in the playoffs,” interim Nuggets coach and longtime assistant David Adelman told reporters earlier this week. “He’s one of the all-time greats. You can’t argue it.”
Sure can’t. But what you also can’t shake are those memories of Murray from that Minnesota series last year.
The heat pad. The pouts. A 3-for-18 showing in Game 2. A 4-for-18 clip in Game 6.
That slow fade in Game 7.
A guy who in 2023 made a 50-40-90 playoff stat line look so easy — and fun, especially against the Lakers — put up a 40-32-92 one last spring.
Over the Blue Arrow’s last nine playoff appearances, he’s scored 24 or more points four times, poured in 16 or fewer points three times, and … the Nuggets are 4-5.
Bubble Jamal? Or Trouble Jamal?
“(Murray) doesn’t have to chase the money,” Kenny Smith, the “Inside The NBA” analyst, told me when he visited Ball Arena last season. “Certain guys have to chase the money, OK? ‘Let me do this to get there.’ No, he’s already there. He just has to chase greatness. Which is a good place to be for him.”
And if Murray catches a heater while he’s chasing said greatness, hey — that works, too.
When No. 27’s scored 17 points or fewer in the postseason, the Nuggets are 5-12. When the Arrow’s hit for 25 points or more, the Nuggets are 19-7.
Bubble Jamal? Or Trouble Jamal?
“The intensity behind these possessions is a little higher (than in the regular season),” Murray told reporters recently. “It (often) comes down to one possession. Good starts are important for us. And valuing the ball.”
Which brings to mind another image from that Timberwolves series — and another potential speed bump.
When last we saw Murray in a playoff setting, Minnesota was giving him 94 feet of holy Hades. The Timberpups chucked body after body at No. 27’s face, straining Murray’s already-strained calf and turning even a simple jog across the timeline into a chore.
Better believe a grindy, defensive-minded bunch such as the Clippers took careful notes.
Los Angeles heads into the postseason having produced a steal on 8.5% of its defensive possessions during the regular season, the second-best takeaway rate in the NBA to Oklahoma City’s 9.0%
The Clip Show badgered Murray into three giveaways during an NBA Cup loss on Dec. 1, then another six during a rematch on Dec. 13.
Bubble Jamal? Or Trouble Jamal?
“They’re handsy. They’re getting a lot of steals,” Murray reflected. “A lot of guys are like, ‘Go get the steals.’ That’s probably the biggest thing. They probably do that better than anybody else in the league.”
When Murray’s feeling it, nobody — other than maybe Steph Curry — in the NBA Playoffs is better at spotting up and crushing souls. It’s the uncertainty and the unavailability that get to you.
Dynasties have multiple Hall of Famers carrying the torch. Murray’s injuries and intangibles have tagged him as “Hall of Very Good” for years. While Nikola Jokic’s become one of the most staggeringly consistent performers in NBA history, the Arrow’s all over the map.
The duo’s chemistry is the stuff of legend. But the coach (Michael Malone) and general manager (Calvin Booth) who helped to foster that relationship are both out of the picture.
The Joker’s 30. Someone in the Nuggets front office is going to have to take a long, hard look at how best to maximize the next four to five seasons of the best player on the planet.
Trouble Jamal is part of the problem. Bubble Jamal was paid to be part of the solution. Murray makes more ($36.02 million) than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($35.85 million) and Jayson Tatum ($34.85 million). If the Arrow shoots the Nuggets past either one of them in the weeks to come, folks will stop bringing those salaries up.
“This is going to be a tough series for (Jamal),” Adelman said. “(The Clippers) have a lot of people to throw at him. And I think the biggest thing for us is, these guys — me, the staff — have to help Jamal. Because if we can get him free, we know what he’s capable of.”
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Originally Published: April 18, 2025 at 10:44 AM MDT
