Three takeaways from Murray taking over fourth sparking Nuggets comeback vs. Lakers

After a flowing, offense-forward Game 1, the first three quarters of Game 2 were a grinder’s game: defensive, physical, more scoring in the paint (and missed 3s), and plenty of whistles.

Then Jamal Murray happened.

He took over in the fourth quarter, the Nuggets as a team found their offensive flow for about seven minutes — including being +6 in the non-Jokić minutes — and Denver took the lead then hung on for the Game 2 win. The Nuggets held serve at home and lead the series 2-0 heading back to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Saturday.

Here are three takeaways from Game 2.

The negative narrative some pushed around Nikola Jokic’s MVP candidacy — “Why are we rewarding a guy who hasn’t won big in the playoffs with three straight MVPs?” — willfully ignored a key point.

For the past two years, the Nuggets were without Jamal Murray in the playoffs after he suffered a torn ACL just before the 2021 postseason (then missed all of the 2021-22 campaign).

Game 2 was a reminder of what he means to this team, giving them a second elite scoring threat who can take over a game.

Murray was not that guy for three quarters Thursday night. He had 14 points on 5-of-17 shooting through three and seemed off his game. The Lakers were keeping Jokić in relative check (as much as anyone does) and Los Angeles had ground the game down to their style and had the lead entering the final 12 minutes.

Then Murray took over in the fourth 23 points, hitting 4-of-5 from 3 in the quarter.

Jamal Murray goes OFF in the 4th quarter to help Denver secure a 2-0 lead in the WCF!

37 PTS (23 PTS in the 4Q)10 REB6 3PM

DEN/LAL Game 2: Sat, 8:30 PM ET | ABC pic.twitter.com/wZ9k5YaUCa

— NBA (@NBA) May 19, 2023

It’s worth noting the rotation adjustment Michael Malone made