When the Denver Nuggets needed him most, star point guard Jamal Murray rose to the occasion in the team’s Game 5 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. But just how Murray went about his 43-point performance was perhaps what made it even more truly special.
Nikola Jokic didn’t have his best stuff in Tuesday’s game, scoring just 13 points on shocking inefficient shooting splits, which is certainly a rarity for him.
When Jokic struggles this much, it is typically a losing recipe for the Nuggets. But Jamal Murray was up to the task in picking some of his teammate’s slack, making 17 of his 26 shot attempts from the field, including making eight three point attempts on the night. This was enough to help the Nuggets secure a 131-115 victory to take a pivotal 3-2 series lead.
It’s not Murray’s career high in point in a postseason game, a distinction that belongs to his pair of 50-point games against the Utah Jazz in the 2020 postseason.
However, it may just be his most impressive scoring performance in a playoff game to date. That is, because, he only ended up taking one free throw attempt in the game. This marks the most points any player has ever scored in a postseason game with only one free throw attempt in said game.
Jamal Murray had 43 PTS on 1 FTA.
That’s the most points in a playoff game with at most 1 free-throw attempt in NBA history. pic.twitter.com/MbQQSNzjrY
— Polymarket Hoops (@StatMamba) April 30, 2025
Murray can sometimes be forgotten about as one of the truly elite point guards in all of basketball, oftentimes being overshadowed on his own team by Nikola Jokic, which obviously speaks to Jokic’s greatness.
Tuesday’s game should be a reminder to every team in the NBA that Jokic is not the only person to game plan for on the Nuggets roster. And if they do focus in on Jokic specifically, Jamal Murray can certainly make teams pay in a truly massive way.
