Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone said Jamal Murray was ‘crushed’ after being diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
Malone announced on Wednesday for the first time since the Nuggets’ announcement that they would be without their asterisk, saying the team could end Murray’s anxiety over the season.
“It was an emotional 24, 36 hours,” Malone said before the Nuggets drove the Miami Heat, 123-106. ‘Jamal is devastated, understandable. I think the team is a bit too. We understand the importance of Jamal Murray. We’re a better team if Jamal Murray is healthy … He’s almost second in every major [statistical] category in the team behind Nikola [Jokic]. “
In their first game without Murray, the Nuggets scored six players in double figures to block a two-game slide. The Nuggets have adjusted the title aspirations strengthened by last month’s trade for Aaron Gordon and are trying to struggle in the West without their points guard, scoring 50 times twice in last season’s playoff series against the Utah Jazz has.
“It’s a sad thing, of course,” Jokic said. “He and I, we have a lot of connections on the floor. We’re really good with each other on the track, and we’re going to miss him in the team. He’s a big part of our team, but it does not ‘we mean that we’re going to stop, you know?
‘It’s really a bad thing that happened to us, but we have to keep moving [forward]. “
Murray was injured with 50.6 seconds left in the Nuggets’ 116-107 defeat to the Golden State Warriors on Monday night. The points guard averaged 21.2 points, 4.8 assists and 4.0 rebounds while shooting 47.7% of the field this season.
Malone told the Heat in front of his team that they should not waste the remaining games in the regular season and the opportunity they have in the Western Conference.
The Nuggets’ head coach said he saw his team play with joy on Wednesday, just over 24 hours after they flew back to Denver with a ‘devastated’ Murray from San Francisco.
“It was really hard. We stayed for the game in San Francisco,” Malone said. “If you just sit with him on the way to the airport, your heart breaks because you can see the raw emotion he felt.”
Denver (35-20) often thrived in the role of underdog. The Nuggets overcame a 3-1 deficit in the first and second rounds last post-season to advance to the Western Conference Finals.
Now the Nuggets will try to surprise people again without Murray.
“I mean, I’ve been the underdog all my life to be honest,” said Jokic, who had 17 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds against Miami. “I’m quite used to it. This is a normal position for me.
“[Playing the role of underdog] gives us a lot of relief. We are not going to be tense. We’re just going to play. We just need to determine these 16, 17 games, how we want to play. We have to build it. This is not going to happen in a moment. ‘