Jamal Murray’s hamstring strain isn’t just going to rob us of seeing him go up against Stephen Curry and the Warriors on Wednesday, he will be out longer than that.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone said this is more than a one- or two-game thing and suggested Murray could be out a while. Here’s the full quote, via Bennett Durando of the Denver Post.
“We’ll kind of continue to talk to our doctors, but his injury is not a one- or two-game injury. That’s what I do know. This will be something that will be longer than we would like…
“You have to have the big picture in mind and make sure we’re putting him in position to get healthy before he comes back. Because this is an injury that, if you keep having recurring hamstring injuries or soft tissue injuries, they can linger and become even worse. And that’s the one thing we do not want to happen.”
The Nuggets beat the also shorthanded Pelicans without Murray, but now have six-of-seven on the road, with the one home game being the Clippers with a just added James Harden. Despite Nikola Jokic playing at an MVP level — and running his own press conferences — this could be a tough stretch. That said, Malone is right, the Nuggets cannot rush Murray back for games in November when this is a team with goals of winning in May and June.
Murray has been playing like the All-Star he deserves to be to start the season: 16.3 points a game shooting 43.8% from beyond the arc while dishing out 7.4 assists a game for a team that has lost just once and looks dominant in the West to start the season.
With Murray out Reggie Jackson moves into the starting lineup and against the Pelicans Malone leaned on Collin Gillespie for the backup point guard minutes.