Almost half a year since the commencement of the NBA tournament, the Los Angeles Lakers’ journey this season has finally come to an end. The franchise recently lost its fourth playoff game against the Denver Nuggets and is now eliminated. Throughout this journey, one player who has been instrumental in putting down the Lakers in favor of his team is point guard Jamal Murray. Despite having sustained an injury during the previous game, the player made an appearance during Game 5 and led the scoring effort. However, getting to play in this game itself was not an easy task.

In the aftermath of the matchup, Murray engaged in a Q&A session. Amidst the thundering cheers of the crowd at the Ball Arena, the player highlighted this exact moment as being nothing short of a “dream come true”. Given that he was listed as ‘Questionable’ on the Injury Report and that Nuggets head coach Michael Malone was having second thoughts, the Nuggets may not have had this moment to enjoy due to the player’s absence. However, Murray made it clear that he was going to be present, no matter what.

“I didn’t want to sit,” said Murray. “I’m not gonna leave my brothers out there, I got a little emotional in the back cause I was like ‘I’m not sitting, I don’t care’. Whatever it is, we gotta figure it out. I’m just thankful that they let me play and I was able to get this opportunity”.

Despite playing for 39 minutes during Game 4, Jamal Murray only played for a total of 6 seconds during the fourth quarter. This was due to the left calf strain that he developed during the game. Lower body injuries had been common for the player during the regular season, but this was the first time that the situation crept up during this season’s playoffs. After analysing his situation, the 27-year-old was listed as ‘Questionable’ on the Report. Not many expected the player to be present during Game 5, with head coach Michael Malone stated that being absent would only work in the player’s favour.

“Sometimes I have to be the adult in the room……. if need be, be the voice of reason and take a bigger picture approach.” said Malone in a statement. “We’re not risking further injury.”

As we know now, however, Murray didn’t care about risking the injury. He wanted to take his team to the Western Conference Finals as soon as possible. Fortunately, that’s what he did.

Jamal Murry Stats vs Lakers Game 5

During his 41 minutes on the court, Jamal Murray established a score of 32 points, 3 rebounds and 7 assists to his name. His points total was the highest he scored since the last 5 games, and his 14 highest in a playoff game. The player went wild with his shooting skills, depositing 13-28 field goals and 5-10 three pointers.

During the final 17 seconds of the game, the Lakers and the Nuggets were tied by a score of 106-106. The ball was in Murray’s possession, and Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves were prepared to take the same away from his hands. Murray dashed towards the court as Nikola Jokic blocked Davis, made a shot while inside the paint and gave the Nuggets a 2-point lead with just 3.6 seconds remaining. This marked the second occasion during the playoffs when the point guard ended the game with the winning shot. Looking how Anthony Davis was upset about the previous one, he certainly won’t be happy this time as well.

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Jamal Murray chose to put the team first at the expense of his own health, and it paid off. The defending champions will now take on the Minnesota Timberwolves during the Conference Finals. Only time will tell whether the offensive prowess that the player has been showing till now will continue during the Nuggets’ next crucial stage as well.