DENVER — Nuggets star guard Jamal Murray is “feeling great” and went through a full practice Saturday, according to head coach Michael Malone.
Murray injured his right elbow when he collided with a screen set by Rudy Gobert early in Minnesota’s 115-70 rout of the Nuggets in Game 6. Murray said after Thursday night’s game that he hoped, for the sake of his team, he could get a feel for his elbow by Sunday’s Game 7.
But at the end of Saturday’s practice, Murray stayed late to take shots and could be seen making several 3-pointers in a row while an assistant coach challenged the shots.
“It feels great,” Malone said after practice.
When asked if Murray is hungry to play well in Game 7 after going just 4-for-18 and scoring 10 points in Game 6, Malone said his point guard “seemed really hungry today.”
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“It looks like he hadn’t eaten in two days,” Malone said. “So I hope that continues tomorrow. I hope he doesn’t eat until 6:00 pm tomorrow.”
Murray is averaging 19.7 points on 50% shooting, including 42% on 3-pointers, in Denver’s three wins in this series. In the three losses to Minnesota, Murray is averaging 11.7 points on 26% shooting.
Game 7, however, won’t be a new experience for Murray, Nikola Jokic and Malone. Those three have been to four Game 7s since the 2019 postseason. They are 3-1 in those games, winning their last two in the NBA bubble as the Nuggets came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Jazz and the Clippers in the first two rounds of 2020.
“The message is simple, man,” Malone said of what he told his team. “Game 7s are great. Enjoy it. Jamal, Nikola and I have been a part of four of those games in our six years in the playoffs. That’s why you work so hard to get home field advantage, against the best NBA fans.
“And we know that in Game 7, every possession matters. There can be no ‘my mistakes’ tomorrow.”
Michael Porter Jr., who has scored a total of 18 points in the last three games, says the defending champions have plenty of big-game experience to draw on. He also cited how the Nuggets beat the Wolves at home, 116-107, in the second-to-last game of the regular season when both teams were vying for home-field advantage in the postseason.
“Game 7s are always big,” Porter said. “But we played in a lot of big games, you know what I mean?
“…We had a similar game against them to decide what was supposed to be the top spot at the end of the season. So we played this team in big moments and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
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