The Denver Nuggets enter the upcoming campaign as the reigning NBA champions, and as such, they’re going to get every team’s best effort, night in and night out.
Of course, everybody will try and focus on stopping Nikola Jokic — if there’s such a thing — trying to come up with ways to prevent him from scoring and/or passing.
While that’s pretty much impossible, the Nuggets can still rely on Jamal Murray to get some timely buckets and help Jokic shoulder the weight.
Notably, Jokic is more than confident in Murray’s ability to get the job done with or without him, stating that he’s actually a much better player now after his injury.
Talking to TalkBasket (Via Basketball on X), Jokic stated that, as crazy as it might seem, he actually believes that the injury helped Murray, as it helped him become a more mature player and slowed down the game a little for him.
Nikola Jokić says Jamal Murray is much better than before the injury 👀
“He’s much better. Not even close. I think he’s much better. Mature, experienced, slow the games. I think just because of the injury slow him down, so he needed to read a little bit better. Maybe it sounds… pic.twitter.com/klrfMIcQ2c
— BASKETBALL ON 𝕏 (@BasketballOnX) October 17, 2023
Notably, the Nuggets had already reached the Western Conference Finals the last time that both Jokic and Murray were healthy in the playoffs, so it’s not like last year’s success was a fluke or much of a surprise.
Murray is one of the best playoff performers in the league, and while he hasn’t posted the same kind of numbers in the regular season, he’s one of the few players who can enter human torch mode and just explode on any given night.
The Nuggets are obviously Jokic’s team, but no one can win on their own, and he has an elite sidekick.
NEXT: Nikola Jokic Conducts Hilarious Scouting Job At Nuggets Practice
