Nuggets’ Jamal Murray Says Calf Injury ‘Sucks,’ Won’t Make Excuses vs. Wolves

Scott Polacek@@ScottPolacekFeatured Columnist IVMay 5, 2024

AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post

The reigning champions are trailing in a postseason series for the first time since 2022 all while Jamal Murray is dealing with a calf injury.

But the Denver Nuggets point guard isn’t about to use his health as an excuse after his team dropped Game 1 of its second-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.

“I’m not going to make no excuses, bro,” Murray said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “Everybody has got nagging injuries. Everybody is playing through something at this point of the season. My calf is no different than anybody else on the team or in the league, honestly. Obviously, it sucks, but it’s not something that I enjoy talking about as part of the loss.

“It’s going to be a part of [the playoff run], and I’ve accepted that and there’s counters for everything. So I just got to keep adjusting, we got to keep adjusting and find ways to get it done. I don’t know, man. The calf is whatever it is.”

Murray played 34 minutes in Saturday’s 106-99 loss and finished with 17 points and four assists on 6-of-14 shooting from the field. However, he went 0-for-5 in a scoreless first half and needed time to adjust.

He also dealt with the injury during the first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers but played all five games. His status was a major storyline going into Game 5, but all he ended up doing was hitting the series-winning shot in the final seconds.

While Nikola Jokić may end up winning the third MVP of his career this season, Denver frequently turns to Murray in crunch time.

That has been the case in these playoffs over and over, so any lingering injury to Murray is a significant reason for concern. That is especially true since the Nuggets are playing a Timberwolves team that is simply better than the Lakers one they defeated eight times in nine tries in the last two playoffs.

Murray isn’t using it as an excuse, but the Nuggets will need better play from their point guard if they are going to advance against Minnesota.