By Christopher Dempsey
On Wednesday, about two hours before the first start at point guard of his NBA career, Jamal Murray shared some yuks with Nuggets coach Michael Malone as the two watched others get in some pre-game on-court work. Malone wanted his young rookie to be as loose as possible going into the game. Murray appreciated the pressure release.
It worked. Murray went out and performed, scoring 10 points with five assists in 30 minutes. He had half of those totals in the first quarter, getting off to a quick start with five points, making 2-of-3 shots -- including a 3-pointer -- and three assists. Most important, the Nuggets’ offense operated without a glitch with Murray running it.
“He’s maturing a lot,” Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari said. “Every game for him is a maturing process and he’s been doing a great job.”
It is where he’s always wanted to be. When Murray talks about playing point guard, he does so in longing tones that suggest he’s reuniting with a long lost friend.
Murray’s points against the Bucks all came in off-ball situations, and all in four different kinds of actions. He had two 3-pointers, one off a spot-up and the other off of a hand-off from Nikola Jokic. One of his two-point field goals came off of an offensive rebound, which he put back up for a bucket. The other was an acrobatic layup in transition. He was 0-for-5 in shot attempts as the primary ball-handler in pick-and-roll situations.
Asked what he thought about Murray’s evolution at point guard this season, Malone said, “I think it’s been the evolution of a 19-year old rookie. What I mean by that is early on he was getting most of his minutes at the two-guard position. And obviously when Emmanuel (Mudiay) went down with the back injury, that allowed him to get most of his minutes at backup one, kind of getting comfortable with the ball in his hands once again. It’s been a while since he’s played point guard – did not play a lot of it at Kentucky last year.
Murray’s soaking it all in.
“It’s been a lot of fun, just playing my favorite position,” he said. “I have the ball in my hand, find a rhythm and get everyone involved. So it’s a lot of fun to be out there with those guys. And I’m back and forth between the starters and the bench so I’m playing with the whole team and it’s a lot of fun.”