Jamal Murray scores season-high 45 in Denver Nuggets' win - ESPN

DALLAS — After Jamal Murray's best offensive performance of the season, Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone defended his star guard who admittedly struggled to start the season.

«I think the microscope on Jamal is a little intense,» Malone said after Murray scored a season-high 45 points Tuesday night to lead the Nuggets to a 118-99 win over the Dallas Mavericks. «Everybody's just got to kind let the kid breathe a little bit. He's not perfect. And if you look, I think his overall stats as of recently, he's been very good for us.»

Murray was sensational from the opening tip Tuesday night, scoring 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting in the first quarter. The Nuggets' typical rotation has Murray rest midway through the first quarter, but he made certain that wasn't the case with him sensing that he was in a groove.

«Don't take me out,» Murray said to Malone on a couple of occasions early in the game, both coming after he made 3-pointers.

Malone happily granted that request, allowing Murray to play the entire quarter. Murray finished the first half with 32 points — two shy of his previous season high — on 12-of-15 shooting.

«You're just in the zone and it's fun,» said Murray, who finished 18-of-26 from the field and 5-of-9 from 3-point range while outscoring the Dallas starting lineup by a 45-39 margin. «Your team knows you're in the zone. They're trying to find you as well. The ball has energy and it was finding me today and I was just rolling, so I wasn't looking into it too much. I was just flowing with the game and playing free.

»If I miss a shot or turn it over, it was on to the next play. And it's nice to play just kind of free-minded, you know what I'm saying? Sometimes you can have so many negatives in the game where it