Why Orlando bubble was 'just the beginning' for Jamal Murray

KARL ANTHONY-TOWNS backed down Aaron Gordon in the post, as Jamal Murray was lurking with an eye locked on the Minnesota big man the entire possession. The moment Towns went to pass out of the ensuing double-team by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Murray jumped the passing lane, intercepted the ball and slammed down a thunderous one-handed breakaway dunk.

The highlight jam was the most emphatic part of Murray's 14-point first quarter on Wednesday. But the playoff fireworks hadn't truly begun yet in Game 2 between the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves. Murray and Anthony Edwards were about to put on a second-half show.

The Wolves erased a 21-point deficit by scoring 40 points in the third quarter. Edwards hit 10 of his 15 shots to score 27 second-half points on his way to 41 points.

But Edwards' best playoff performance to date only lit a fire under Murray. On one third-quarter score, Murray drove to his right and stopped so abruptly that defender Nickeil Alexander-Walker went sliding toward the rim. Then Murray spun and drilled a jumper before pointing toward the Wolves guard to let him know he couldn't be guarded.

«I told him the other day, he looks better than ever,» Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. told reporters afterward. «He lives for the playoffs. He lives for moments like these.»

Murray was back in his element, in another 40-point playoff duel against a rising star and coming away with the final say. Murray scored 22 points in the second half, including eight in the final 3:45, to finish with 40 points and push the Nuggets to a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven series against Minnesota.

After Murray authored his fifth career 40-point playoff game — he is only the third player in NBA history to have more