The Denver Nuggets head to their best-of-seven second-round playoff series against the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder as heavy underdogs. According to the early betting odds, the Thunder have an 87.5 percent implied probability of winning the series, and a 30.3 percent chance of finishing the Nuggets in five games.
ESPN's Quentin Richardson agrees with the Las Vegas odds. However, for argument's sake, "Q" said that if Denver wants to give itself a chance to win the series, Jamal Murray has to show up big time for them.
"Me personally, I don't think they can," admitted Richardson. "But I think the best case scenario for them to try is Jamal Murray has to go nuclear. Jamal Murray has to be that superstar guy we've seen in the bubble, and pop in and out of different times and go for 30, 40 points."
Murray is the second-best player on the Nuggets, behind Nikola Jokic. However, his performance has gone down since starring in the 2020 and 2023 playoffs for Denver. This season, the Canadian averaged a career-high 21.4 points per game, but the final stats don't tell the entire story of Jamal's 2024-25 campaign.
Murray started the year slowly, peaked in mid-season, and then struggled after returning from a hamstring injury towards the end of the regular season. In their first-round series against the Clippers, Jamal had a monster Game 5, scoring 43 points, but he also had difficulty shooting the rock in Games 1 and 4. The Kentucky product had 16 points in the closeout Game 7, but if they are going to topple the Thunder, they need more than that from him.
"We've seen the Joker to be a consistent variable that's going to be there every night, just depending on how high or low he may go, but he's gonna be triple-doubling and getting his points, so we know he's going to be there. If they can get superstar Jamal Murray, and you couple that with the defense and complementary players, the Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun's playing well, that's the best chance they got against OKC," added Richardson.
The good thing for the Nuggets is that Murray is known to play better in the playoffs than in the regular season. Looking at round one, Jamal's 22.9 points per game average against the Clippers was slightly higher than his regular-season mark. Hopefully, the increase will continue against OKC for Denver. However, the Thunder seem prepared for that.
"Jamal is, you know, could maybe have a couple of All-Stars under his belt. Hasn't got selected but he's played like that in the postseason. I think everyone is aware of how good a player he is. They say playoff riser, but I don't think he really rises in the playoffs. He just plays to his normal level," said Thunder defensive specialist Alex Caruso, who should get the assignment to shackle Murray in the series.
Game 1 of the Thunder versus Nuggets series is on Monday night at Paycom Center in downtown Oklahoma City. OKC has opened as a favorite to win the game by a double-digit margin. However, they have to make sure they keep "Playoff Jamal" under control.
