Nuggets’ Jamal Murray wasn’t even supposed to be on the floor to hit game-winner

Jamal Murray’s jumper with 3.6 seconds left gave the Denver Nuggets a 108-106 win and a series victory over LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Murray finished the Game 5 victory with 32 points and seven assists, going 16-of-28 from the floor and 5-of-10 from three. He helped Denver stave off the Lakers in a contest that featured 16 lead changes and 10 ties.

The 27-year-old also clinched Game 2 with a fall-away jumper at the buzzer. Per ESPN, Murray is the first player in 25 years to hit multiple go-ahead shots in the final five seconds of a single playoff series and just the fourth player to do it multiple times in a single postseason.

But he wasn’t even supposed to be on the floor to hit said series clincher.

Jamal Murray was told by Nuggets staff to sit out Game 5

Denver’s point guard has been struggling with a strained left calf (an oddly common injury this postseason). He warmed up with an ice pack on his leg and said he was advised by team staff to sit out Game 5. With the Nuggets ahead 3-1 in the series and possessing home-court advantage, giving Murray a night off wouldn’t have been the worst idea.

But he wasn’t having any of it, according to ESPN:

They told me no. They told me no. … And I didn’t say no. I didn’t want to leave my teammates out there.

We’ve been battling all season. Everybody’s hurt at some point, everybody’s going through something, and I just wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I wasn’t able to play this game.

Denver Head Coach Michael Malone was effusive in his praise of his star guard, saying, “That kid’s a warrior, man. The bigger the moment, the kid just continues to shine.”

The Nuggets are now set to take on the red-hot Minnesota Timberwolves in a Western Conference semifinals series.

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