Save for those two buzzer-beaters in the first round against the Lakers, Jamal Murray is having a mediocre postseason, to put it mildly.
The Nuggets guard is shooting 39.1% from the field and 31.3% from three, significant drops from his career-high regular-season marks of 48.1% and 42.5%, respectively.
Jamal Murray this playoffs:
— StatMuse (@statmuse) May 17, 2024
39.1 FG%
31.3 3P%https://t.co/qUPZUMGLwQ
Murray's shooting woes can't be attributed to Denver not running enough plays for the star guard, who leads the team with 20.2 field goal attempts a game in these playoffs. For context, Nikola Jokic is attempting fewer shots (19.6) but averaging nearly nine more points per game (28.2 to 19.3) than his teammate.
The awful discrepancy between his PPG and FGA means Murray is the most inefficient postseason scorer on that rate of shooting since Celtics legend John Havlicek, who, in the 1965 playoffs, averaged 18.5 points from 20.8 attempts per game. Havlicek shot 35.2% from the field in that postseason run 59 years ago.
Jamal Murray this postseason:
— StatMamba (@StatMamba) May 17, 2024
19.3 PPG
20.2 FGA
Only Bob Cousy (1951) and John Havlicek (1965) have averaged less PPG on 20+ FGA in a single playoff run (min 10 GP). pic.twitter.com/Eca4IDtfG0
Murray's inefficient postseason hit a new low Thursday as his Nuggets were blown out by a margin of 115-70 in the Game 6 loss to the Timberwolves. The Kentucky alum shot 4-of-18 from the field and finished with the worst plus-minus (-32) among his teammates.
Murray blamed his poor shooting night on the hyperextended elbow he suffered in the early moments when he ran into a Rudy Gobert screen.
"I put some numbing cream on [the elbow], so I didn't have to feel it every time I extended," Murray told reporters. "I was never really in to get into my rhythm again, and my team obviously needed me to tonight, and I didn't."
Murray expressed optimism that his elbow would heal in time for Game 7. If he continues to shoot as poorly as he has, though, the Nuggets could see their season come to an end on Sunday.
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