Jamal Murray left the Denver Nuggets game early on Friday, entering concussion protocol after coincidentally colliding with Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle and teammate Aaron Gordon during the third quarter. While the Nuggets briefly thrived without the Blue Arrow overcoming a 15-point deficit, they blew a 10-point lead late the proved just how important Murray is in losing 119-116 to the Wolves.
The game was heated as a playoff rematch from last season with the Nuggets carrying a lot of emotions after blowing a 20-point lead in Game 7 of the second round last season. Mainly Michael Porter Jr. and Christian Braun blamed themselves for the series loss and the two stepped up big on Friday. Alongside Gordon and of course Nikola Jokic the four buoyed Denver and ultimately pushed Denver to a large late lead.
“We scored two points in the last five minutes, so we were able to execute and score down the stretch in Toronto and Brooklyn and tonight obviously, that wasn’t the case, which is unfortunate,” Michael Malone said. “Thought our guys played extremely hard and gave ourselves a lead in the fourth quarter and you just tip your cap to them.”…