When Karl Anthony-Towns had backed Aaron Gordon into the post, Jamal Murray was in the background, one eye constantly locked on the big man from Minnesota.
And the moment Towns tried to pass out of the double-team move by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Murray jumped through the passing lane, intercepted the ball cleanly, and slammed it into a one-handed breakaway dunk. This was definitely the most emphatic part of the first quarter on Wednesday. But the main event was still behind the curtain, as Murray and Anthony Edwards were about to light up the court for Game 2 between the Denver Nuggets and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Denver Nuggets Jamal Murray Put up Another Stellar Playoff Performance
The Wolves managed to erase an enormous 21-point deficit as they ended up scoring 40 points in the third quarter. Edwards managed to hit 10 of his 15 shots to score 27 second-half points as he made his way to 41 points. But the best playoff performance by Edward only ignited Jamal Murray further. During one third-quarter score, Murray drove to his right hand and stopped so fast that Nickeil Alexander-Walker crashed into the rim. Then the player spun and drilled a jumper before trash-talking the Wolves guard. Michael Porter Jr., the forward for the Denver Nuggets went on to state that Murray lived for playoffs and moments like those.
Jamal Murray was definitely in his zone, as he had another 40-point duel with a rising star and won it. Murray went on to score 22 points in the second half, which included eight in the final 3:45, to finish with 40 points- which pushed the Nuggets to a commanding 2-0 lead in their series against Minnesota.