The only thing hotter than Jamal Murray's jumper on Wednesday night might have been his temper.
The Denver guard was still carrying a grudge against the Portland Trail Blazers over being ejected for some trash talking on Monday. Facing them again two days later, Murray let his play do his chirping with a career-best 55 points the Nuggets' 132-121 victory.
"[The Trail Blazers] shouldn't have done that," Nuggets forward Zeke Nnaji said about the trash talk. "When he's mad, there's no one in the world that can stop him."
The performance by the Kitchener, Ont., native marked a new NBA single-game record point total by a Canadian.
It's the second time in less than a month that a new record total has been established. Hamilton's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 54 points for his Oklahoma City Thunder on Jan. 23.
Murray conjured up visions of "Playoff Murray" in Denver's last game before the All-Star break. He was difficult to guard when he helped led the Nuggets to their first NBA championship in 2023.
He was difficult to contain Wednesday, too, hitting one long-range shot after another on his way to a 30-point first half. When the Trail Blazers changed their tactics in the second half, Murray adjusted, too, and attacked the rim.
Murray finished 20 of 36 from the floor, including seven 3-pointers. It's the third-most points in the franchise's NBA history, trailing only David Thompson's 73-point game on April 9, 1978, and Jokic's 56-point effort Dec. 7. In the ABA, Spencer Haywood had a 59-point game for the then-Denver Rockets on April 15, 1970.
"He was just ultra-aggressive tonight," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. "As a coach, obviously watching one of your players have that type of game, just so proud of him and happy for
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