“The kid’s a warrior, man,” Denver coach Michael Malone said of Murray.
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According to myriad statistics websites, Murray is the first NBA player to hit game-winning shots in the final five seconds of two games in the same series, and just the fourth player to do it in an entire post-season.
The first, to win Game 2, came with him moving to his right and elevating over the imposing presence of Anthony Davis to make the game-winner as the buzzer went.
The second came Monday, to win Game 5 and move Denver into the Western Conference semifinal against Minnesota. Murray moved left, in a screen-roll action with Nikola Jokic to freeze Davis. His bucket broke a 106-106 tie and left the Lakers with only a mid-court prayer to extend their season.
“I’m speechless. It’s a dream come true,” Murray said in a post-game, on-court interview after his 32-point performance. “All these fans on your side to get it done in this fashion, I don’t know. I don’t know what to say. I’m just happy for us.”
The repercussions of Murray’s shots are incalculable right now. James and the Lakers were swept by the Nuggets in the Western Conference last season, Denver won all three regular-season games between the teams this season and the Nuggets have sent the Lakers into another off-season filled with questions.
That Murray would slay James after James slew the Raptors in three post-seasons in the mid-2010s should only enhance Murray’s place in the hearts of Canadian fans. And if the 27-year-old from Kitchener can build on this post-season success through the Paris Olympics this summer, he’ll be even a more heroic Canadian sports figure.
His inclusion on the Paris Games team will pair him with another Canadian who is dominating the NBA playoffs. While Hamilton’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hasn’t matched all of Murray’s late-game heroics, he did have a game-winning three-point play with about 30 seconds left to propel the Oklahoma City Thunder to the first of four straight wins over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Nella partita più emozionante di questo giro di gare 1 di questi #NBAPlayoffs, è Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a segnare il canestro più importante per la vittoria sudatissima dei Thunder sui Pelicans.#ThunderUp#NbaTipopic.twitter.com/l5cqXJKqkt
It was as big a shot as the two by Murray and they separate the two Canadians from almost every other NBAer. It’s one thing to make a big shot in some nondescript regular-season game, to take — let alone make — a playoff game-winner is something altogether.
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“I think it’s important for people to know how competitive he is,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone told reporters before Game 5. “He made that shot in Game 2 that’s going to go down as one of the best shots in Denver Nuggets history. He wants to do well for his team.
Murray’s status for Monday was very much in doubt because of a strained left calf, and he told reporters that management suggested he sit the game out and not risk it.
“He doesn’t want to let his teammates down and he wears that,” Malone said. “I really appreciate and respect that about Jamal. He wants to be there for his teammates and step up like he has done countless times before.”
Doug Smith covers the NBA's Toronto Raptors for the Toronto Star, and has been covering the team since its inception in 1995.
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