The Sheer Lunacy of Playoff Jamal Murray
Denver's star guard takes his game to another level in the postseason.
Jamal Murray struggled through the first three quarters of Game 2 of the Denver Nuggets’ Western Conference Finals matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers, shooting a meager 5-for-17 from the floor to that point of the contest.
The fourth quarter went much better.
Murray scored 23 points in the game’s final frame, canning six of his final seven shots, including a 4-for-5 from deep. His scoring bonanza came as a surprise when compared to his previous performance in the game, but perhaps it shouldn’t have. Murray is an incredible postseason scorer.
He’s upped his points per game average from 20.0 in the regular season this year to 27.2 in the playoffs. That’s a 36 percent increase when the intensity of games ratchets up and defenses are more focused on the specific skills of their opponents.
A raw scoring jump for a player whose primary role is to put the ball in the basket isn’t necessarily unimaginable. Teams’ best players up their minutes in the postseason, which can in turn lead to higher point totals.
But it’s not just Murray’s points per game that are up. His points per 36 minutes are also nearly 20% higher (25.3 vs. 21.9) than his regular season rate. And here’s the real kicker: Murray’s efficiency has improved as well. His true shooting is at 59.1% for the playoffs, as compared to 57.1% for the regular season.
That’s not normal.
Increasing the volume AND efficiency of your scoring when the games matter most is insanity, but for Murray it’s really just par for the course. His career playoff averages for all of the statistics cited above outpace his career regular season marks.
There isn’t any noticeable shift in process that is juicing the numbers. Denver plays a consistent style of offense, and Murray’s game remains built on tough shot making and all sorts of beautiful chicanery in two-man actions with Nikola Jokic.
Murray is just built for the blast furnace that is the playoffs and Denver is reaping the benefits.