Jamal Murray powers Denver Nuggets to franchise's first NBA championship
Another former Wildcat has been crowned an NBA champion, and his name is Jamal “Blue Arrow” Murray.
On Monday night in Game 5 of the 2023 NBA Finals, Murray and the Denver Nuggets finished off the Miami Heat by a final score of 94-89 to capture the franchise’s first championship in its 56-plus years of history. Murray, who played at Kentucky during the 2015-16 season, was vital throughout Denver’s title run, completing the 4-1 series win with a stat line of 14 points (6-15 FG; 2-7 3PT), eight rebounds, and eight assists in 41 minutes of action.
Murray, who missed all of last season with a torn ACL, becomes just the second former Kentucky Wildcat that played under head coach John Calipari to win the NBA Finals. He joins Anthony Davis, who won the 2020 Larry O’Brien trophy in the bubble with the Los Angeles Lakers.
With tears flooding his eyes when the final buzzer sounded, Murray had helped make history for the team that picked him No. 7 overall in the 2016 Draft.
“It’s just an amazing feeling. Blood, sweat, and tears to get back to this point,” Murray said, overcome with emotion, during the postgame celebration. “Everybody on my team in here, everybody on the floor believed in me, believed in me to get back to myself. We proved a lot of doubters wrong.
“I learned a lot about myself, just being out for two postseasons. Just grinding, having so many things go through my head. Watching my team go through the ups and downs, and just to see us healthy, knowing what we can do, knowing we had the belief from the get-go. You guys (the fans) had the belief from the get-go. It’s just great to see it through.”
Murray’s two-time MVP teammate, Nikola Jokic, was the unanimous selection for Finals MVP. The 6-foot-11 Serbian finished his night with 28 points, 16 rebounds, and four rebounds.
It wasn’t a great offensive performance from either side in Game 5 — Denver shot 17.9 percent from three-point range and turned the ball over 14 times while Miami shot 34.4 percent from the field and 25.7 percent from deep — but the Nuggets found a way to win despite trailing for most of the night.
Murray, only 26, was excellent all playoffs long, elevating his on-court production to superstar levels. Through 20 games, the Canadian averaged 26.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 7.1 assists, and 1.5 steals in 39.9 minutes per outing on shooting splits of 47.3/39.6/92.6.
While Murray’s shooting stroke wasn’t as efficient come Finals time, he was especially spectacular with his playmaking. The 6-foot-4 floor general dished out at least 10 assists in the first four games of the Finals before recording eight dimes in the decisive Game 5. A list of the last five players in NBA history to finish with at least 50 assists in an NBA Finals includes Murray, LeBron James, Draymond Green, John Stockton, and Magic Johnson. Pretty good company…
For the Heat, fellow former ‘Cat Bam Adebayo finished his second All-Star season with a final line of 20 points and 12 rebounds on 9-20 shooting in 44 minutes. Tyler Herro, who was ruled available ahead of Game 5 for the first time in nearly two months due to a broken hand, did not see the court for Miami.
Adebayo, playing alongside six-time NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler, still managed to make history with the Heat in spite of the Finals loss. As just the second-ever eight-seed to make the Finals, Miami had to fight its way through the Play-In Tournament but advanced to take down the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks in round one. The Heat then beat the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics to make it back to the Finals for the first time since 2020.
Throughout the postseason, Adebayo was a reliable No. 2 next to Butler, particularly on the defensive end of the floor. The 6-foot-9 big man averaged 17.9 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in 36.9 minutes per outing, although he shot just 48.1 percent from two-point range. Herro played a mere 19 minutes in the first round of the playoffs, breaking his shooting hand during Game 1 against the Bucks and missing the remainder of the season.
NBA Finals results
• Game 1: Nuggets 104, Heat 93 | DEN leads 1-0
• Game 2: Heat 111, Nuggets 108 | Tied 1-1
• Game 3: Nuggets 109, Heat 94 | DEN leads 2-1
• Game 4: Nuggets 108, Heat 95 | DEN leads 3-1
• Game 5: Nuggets 94, Heat 89 | DEN wins 4-1
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