The Denver Nuggets will be without their star guard Jamal Murray for the foreseeable future. During a game against the Golden State Warriors earlier this week, Murray went down hard and was seen clutching his knee and banging the hardwood, clearly in a lot of pain.
Not long after, his coach Mike Malone ran onto the court and demanded that the team’s medical staff take a look at him. Eventually, it was declared that this was something serious, and they brought a wheelchair onto the court to hopefully wheel him out. To their surprise, however, Murray declined the wheelchair and hobbled off the court with the aid of two of the team’s staff members.
Murray is listed out indefinitely, which is never a good sign, especially when the playoffs are right around the corner. It’s unclear when he’ll be back, but chances are high that he’ll be out for the rest of the season.
The thing is that the Nuggets don’t have the luxury of having a player of Murray’s caliber injured. Although they’re a strong contender in the West, much of their hopes lay in his abilities down the stretch, especially in clutch moments. After Murray’s incredible performance in last season’s playoffs, fans were eager to see how he’d perform this year, and whether or not he’d be able to carry his fellow Nuggets past the second or third round hump. Unfortunately, we probably won’t get to see that this year.
That’s not to say that the Nuggets don’t have anyone else to turn to. They do have Nikola Jocic, basketball savant and one of the best big men in the league. They also have Aaron Gordon, who they only just acquired from the Orlando Magic in the hopes that he’d aid them in a playoff run.
In other words, they still have a shot to win it all. But it was going to be hard enough with Murray, so the odds will now be that much higher against them.
