{"id":33704,"date":"2020-09-26T10:33:38","date_gmt":"2020-09-26T14:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=33704"},"modified":"2020-09-26T10:33:38","modified_gmt":"2020-09-26T14:33:38","slug":"evaluating-jamal-murray-2020-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2020\/09\/26\/evaluating-jamal-murray-2020-playoffs\/","title":{"rendered":"Evaluating Jamal Murray in the 2020 Playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Tuesday, <\/span>Jamal Murray<\/a><\/b> added another phenomenal playoffs performance to his resume. He was lights out in game three of the Western Conference Finals. Leading the Denver Nuggets<\/a> to a crucial win that stopped Denver from falling down 0-3 in the series, he scored 28 points on .588\/.500 shooting. Ahead of another critical game five against the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> tonight, Murray <\/span>has been dubbed<\/span><\/a> as the \u201cX\u201d factor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why? Simply put, when Murray shoots efficiently from the field and gets his teammates involved, the Denver offense rolls. Heading into the NBA Bubble in July, Murray was seen as an important tandem to superstar Nuggets center <\/span>Nikola Jokic<\/a><\/b>. But after Murray\u2019s brilliance over the last two months, especially in the playoffs, this team is just as much his as Jokic\u2019s.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How good has Murray been in the playoffs? And how high is his NBA ceiling? Last Word on Professional Basketball breaks it down here.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jamal Murray\u2019s Playoff Brilliance<\/b><\/h2>\n

Living in Jokic\u2019s Shadow\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

For the last four years, Murray and Jokic have blossomed together in the Mile High City. In Murray\u2019s rookie campaign in 2016-17, the tandem enjoyed a season of .500 basketball. The following year, the Nuggets went 46-36 and missed the playoff field by one seed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The tandem moved full speed ahead over the last two years, including back-to-back seasons as the second or third seed in the west. Currently, the Nuggets are down three games to one in the Western Conference Finals against the title favorites.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, throughout this successful run, Murray has been more of an afterthought to his teammate Jokic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jokic is a two-time All-Star, a three-time All-League representative, and received votes in the last two Most Valuable Player races. On the other hand, Murray has never been an All-Star. He only received recognition on the All-Rookie team and was overshadowed by Jokic\u2019s superstardom. Until now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u201cAll-Star coming! Watch out!\u201d<\/p>\n

Nikola Jokic has a new security team around him \ud83d\ude02 (via @nuggets<\/a>) pic.twitter.com\/IHYsi8KjNr<\/a><\/p>\n

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 25, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n