Jamal Murray dictated the switch, stepped back for one of his patented elbow jumpers and landed clear of Spurs defender Jakob Poeltl.
It was a routine right ankle roll suffered on an otherwise non-descript backpedal that left Murray writhing in pain with the Nuggets clinging to a 93-91 lead with 4:31 remaining in Friday’s thriller against the Spurs.
After several tense moments – made more uneasy due to the Nuggets’ already thin bench – Murray leapt up and ran to the corner.
“I thought he was done,” said Nuggets coach Michael Malone following his team’s gutsy 102-99 win over San Antonio. “Then he pulled a Willis Reed on us, he did a U-turn, came back on the court. Obviously I had Monte (Morris) come back to the bench for another possession or two.”
Morris’ time was coming, but in the immediate aftermath of Murray’s hobbled right foot, which never relegated him to the bench, the Nuggets’ home crowd roared as their point guard gritted his teeth.
Read the full story via The Denver Post.
