Denver Nuggets teammate Jamal Murray has suffered a torn left ankle ACL and will be sidelined, the team announced Tuesday. Although no schedule has been set for his return, he will likely miss the rest of the season with an injury like this. Murray sustained the injury in Monday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors when he tried to attack the basket, but as soon as he tried to lift from his left leg, he immediately fell to the floor and appeared in severe pain.
He refused a wheelchair when the injury occurred, and rather helped out of court with help.
The loss of Murray is a major blow to a Denver team that has had a tear lately. The Nuggets moved by the deadline to acquire Aaron Gordon and JaVale McGee to bolster their rankings for what they expected to be a deep post-season run by MVP frontrunners Nikola Jokic and Murray. With just over a month in the season, Denver would be without its second leading scorer in Murray, who had an outstanding season.
After having an outburst performance in the NBA bubble last season, where he scored 26.5 points and 6.6 assists in the Nuggets’ surprising post-season run to the Western Conference Finals. Murray has transferred production this season. He started the season slowly, struggling with his efficiency, but really started to catch fire in February, where he shot 51 percent from the field and 46 percent from the depths. He is, on average, a career highlight and has been a major part of Denver’s success lately.
Losing a talent like Murray is devastating and virtually irreplaceable. If he is no more, it will mean that guys like Michael Porter Jr., who is also having a breakthrough season, and Will Barton will have to step it up in attack to try to make up for the loss of Murray’s production.